Eric Roll

Nationality

United Kingdom

Date of Birth

1907

Date of Death

2005

Political
Preference

Eric Roll was a British economist, academic, public servant and banker. Born in Nowosielitza, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Roll was sent to England in the 1920s, where he studied at the University of Birmingham. In 1938, he published a book called A History of Economic Thought and was recruited into the civil service during World War II.

In this capacity, he acted as deputy head of the British Food Mission from 1941 to 1946, which dealt with the availability and procurement of food supplies during the War. This experience led him to be the British representative in the Paris discussions on Marshall aid. In this capacity, Roll participated in the meetings of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), established in 1948 to administer the Marshall Plan. In the summer of 1948 Roll was part of a Committee of Four in the OEEC, that made recommendations on the division of the annual Marshall Plan-aid.