Kantorovich, Leonid Vitalyevich

Kantorovich, Leonid Vitalyevich (lē`ənĭd vītal`ēyavĭch kəntor`əvĭch), 1912–86, Soviet economist and mathematician, b. St. Petersburg, Russia. A professor at Leningrad State Univ. (1934–60), he later served (1971–76) as director of the mathematical economics laboratory at the Moscow Institute of National Economic Management. He used the mathematical technique of linear programming to further the theory of optimum allocation of resources, as described in his work The Best Use of Economic Resources (1959). Kantorovich shared the 1975 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Tjalling Koopmans.