The Unknown Simon Kuznets: Correspondence with his relatives in 2009–2010

This paper presents an expanded and annotated collection of correspondence between the author and the direct descendants of the Nobel Prize winner Simon Kuznets, including his son Paul Kuznets, his daughter Judith Stein, and his niece Ruth Kuznets-Hauptman. Covering the period from April 3, 2009 to March 3, 2010, the correspondence sheds light on previously unknown aspects of the Kuznets family’s early biography, their life in the Russian Empire and Soviet Ukraine (Pinsk, Rovno, Kharkov), and their eventual emigration to the United States. By integrating original English letters with detailed Russian commentary (now translated for an international audience), this work corrects several historical inaccuracies regarding Kuznets’ birthplace, his education at the Kharkov Commercial Institute, and the fate of his family members. This archival reconstruction serves as a critical resource for historians of economic thought and biographers of Simon Kuznets.