Monday, January 22, 2018

Bettina Bien-Greaves R.I.P.

Ludwig von Mises and Bettina Bien-Greaves
The Foundation for Economic Education reports that Bettina Bien-Greaves has died at the age of 100.

 Tricia Beck-Peter writes:
Bettina served FEE for over fifty years and was instrumental in shaping the organization during our earliest years. Bettina was, among many things, Ludwig von Mises’s biographer and close friend. She made it her mission to catalog Mises’s work and to make him and Mrs. Mises comfortable in their final years.

Bettina was a courageous and kind woman....Bettina gave us her tireless energy and her fierce curiosity. She gave the world the gift of Mises and his life story. When she moved into a retirement facility, she gave FEE the proceeds from selling her home. Over and over, this woman gave of herself to the cause of human liberty. Now she is gone, and all we can give her is the promise to honor her memory.

Thank you, Bettina, for everything.
I had the opportunity of meeting Mrs. Geaves just a few times but those few times are embedded in my mind. She always treated me kindly and was willing to spend as much time as I wanted while I was in her office to ask questions I had. She was a very special lady, a perfect example of a civilized and knowledgeable person, the kind we need more of today. 

Her work supporting the efforts of Mises were truly heroic, especially her taking detailed notes of the famous Mises seminar that was held at New York University.

 -RW

2 comments:

  1. I am saddened by the news of her passing but I am nonetheless glad she lived a long and fruitful life as a champion for liberty and economic education. Alas, no one lives for ever and there is still much to do. Rest in peace, Bettina.

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  2. I first corresponded with then Bettina Bien in 1966, some fifty years ago, having picked up a copy of The Law in the local library and written the publisher for its catalogue. In the next two years she flooded me with boxes of books and encouraged me reading the entire FEE and William Volker sponsered literature. RIP

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