Fyodor Yakovlevich Polyansky (1907– 1982) as a historian of economic thought

Abstract

The article examines the scientific work of Fyodor Yakovlevich Polyansky, one of the founding fathers of the Department of History of National Economy and Economic Doctrines, whose 75th anniversary was celebrated at MSU Economics Faculty in 2024. The task is to reveal the scientific contribution of Professor Polyansky to the history of economic thought. Drawing on a detailed study of the texts, the author analyzes the achievements of this scholar in interpreting economic ideas of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, Modern and Contemporary Times. It is argued that in science, F. Ya. Polyansky was a consistent Marxist who studied social motives of economic doctrines, carried out the principle of scientific historicism, evaluating the content of a particular concept taking into account the real circumstances of the era. The author emphasizes that freedom from eclecticism does not interfere with the richness and meaningfulness of his historical and economic analysis and highlights F. Ya. Polyansky strive for fundamentality as a fundamental quality of his scientific activity. This property manifests itself in his work on university-level courses. It was Professor Polyansky who initiated the preparation of the World History of Economic Doctrines (in six volumes). He was also the author of the main structure of the publication, and managed to write a number of chapters and paragraphs for it. It should be noted that not everything in the ideological heritage of F. Ya. Polyansky has retained its value. From today’s standpoint, there are comments on both the form and content of his publications, especially in terms of polemics with ideological opponents. The paper concludes that the scholar's contribution to science is determined not by individual weaknesses, but by strong and profound provisions of his works that have retained their relevance.