Maria Szécsi

Maria Szécsi (23 December 1914 – 14 June 1984), also called as Maria Szecsi, was an Austrian economist who contributed to the reform of the Austrian cartel law. She was active in the Communist Party of Austria. From her childhood, she actively engaged in socialist ideas under the influence of her uncle, Karl Polanyi. She was associated with the social democrat youth organization and the socialist high school group. She worked at the department of social policy of the Communist World Trade Union.

After the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 she left the Communist Party in May 1957 following her critical approach towards its policies. She subsequently joined the department of economics at the Vienna Chamber of Labor under whom she married later. Between 1960 and 1974, she worked at the Austrian Chamber of Labour. During her later years at the Chamber of labour, she engaged in research and publications.

From 1957 to 1978, she served as chief editor of the Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft journal which highlighted the economic and social concerns of trade unions at a scholarly level on an empirical basis. Her major research works focused on income distribution, prices, and private consumption in Austria.

She also taught at Webster University, Vienna.

She died on 14 June 1984.