Heinrich Pesch


Heinrich Pesch, S.J. was a German Roman Catholic ethicist and economist of the Solidarist school. His major work, Lehrbuch der Nationalökonomie, is generally regarded as a source for Pope Pius XI's social encyclical Quadragesimo anno.

Biography

After studying law at Bonn, Pesch entered the Society of Jesus in 1876. He made his novitiate with exiled German Jesuits in the Netherlands. For his studies of philosophy Pesch was sent to Bleijenbeek, also in the Netherlands. He completed his theological studies at Ditton Hall. While in England, Pesch lectured for a few years at the Stella Matutina school. He was ordained priest in 1888.
From 1892 until 1900 Pesch was spiritual director at the Mainz seminary, where he wrote his first book Liberalism, Socialism and Christian Order. Through lectures of the publicist Rudolf Meyer Pesch became acquainted with the teachings of Marx and Rodbertus. After a renewed study of economics with Schmoller and Wagner in Berlin, Pesch moved to Luxembourg and worked on his major opus Lehrbuch der Nationalökonomie. He died in 1926.

Works