Ehrlich, Otto H.

Otto H. Ehrlich, scholar, economist, and lecturer was born on September 29, 1892, in Vienna, Austria into a family of merchants. He received his initial schooling at the Sofiengymnasiun. He received a certificate in business administration in 1912 at the Business University in Vienna and continued his studies at the University of Vienna.

During WWI Otto Ehrlich served in the Austrian army and advanced from the rank of cadet officer to 1st lieutenant.

After the war Otto Ehrlich became a junior officer at the Algemeine Depositen Bank where he remained until 1925.

From 1924 to 1934 he taught, wrote, and lectured on economic topics in Austria and other Central European countries.

Between 1934 and the German annexation of Austria in 1938 Otto Ehrlich was involved in advertising and public relations business.

He left Austria in 1939 and settled in New York, where he taught economics at a number of universities including Brooklyn College (1941-1947), City College (1946-1947) and, most notably, New York University, where he worked between 1946 until his retirement in 1958. During his tenure at New York University, Otto Ehrlich founded a scholarly journal, Economic Abstracts, which was published by the university. After his retirement, Otto Ehrlich taught at Upsala College on a part-time basis. During the early 1960s, he was a guest lecturer under the US Information Agency auspices in West Germany.

Otto Ehrlich published a number of books, including Inflation in the West (1968); Imperfect Synchronization between the Economies of West Europe and the United States (1961); Uncle Sam versus Inflation, the Problem and its Solution in Cartoons (1943); Economic cartoon no. 1 (1942); Planning jobs and jobs in planning (1943); Kann Österreich geholfen werden? (1926).

Otto Ehrlich died in Plainfield, N.J. on May 22, 1979.

From the guide to the Otto Ehrlich Collection, 1876-2004, bulk 1908-1979, (Leo Baeck Institute)