Lange, Oskar Ryszard (1904–1965)

Polish economist and politician. He was Polish ambassador to the USA 1945–47, and delegate to the United Nations (UN) Security Council. From 1957 to 1959 he was chair of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, in addition to holding various state positions in Poland.

After studying in Poznań and Kraków, Lange became active in the left wing of the Polish Socialist Party . In 1938 he settled in the USA. During World War II he confounded the Polish government in exile by his public advocacy of Polish–Soviet cooperation and his visit to the USSR in 1944, with the unofficial support of the US government. In 1948 he was elected to the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers Party (PUWP). His excellent international contacts brought him to prominence after 1956. In 1957 he was appointed deputy chair of the Council of State (the Polish collective presidency at the time). Before World War II he published various works arguing the compatibility of market mechanisms with socialism, and after 1945 he wrote on statistics, econometrics, and cybernetic approaches to economic planning.