Paul Demeny

Paul Demeny (1932 – 18 October 2024) was a Hungarian demographer and economist known for pioneering the concept of Demeny voting.

Early life and education Demeny was born in Nyíregyháza, Hungary in 1932. He graduated from the Reformed College of Debrecen in 1951 and from the University of Budapest in 1955. He then attended the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva in 1957. He eventually received a PhD in economics from Princeton University in 1961. At Princeton, his mentors were demographers Frank W. Notestein and Ansley J. Coale, as well as economists William Baumol, Oscar Morgenstern and Jacob Viner. Demeny voting is a system that would "let custodial parents exercise the children's voting rights," with the goal of "mak(ing) the political system more responsive to the young generation's interests" and addressing the threat of gerontocracy.

Death Demeny died on 18 October 2024, at the age of 91.

Recognition In 2003, he was named laureate of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population.