FELIX SOMARY - Independent economist, pragmatic analyst, and man of foresight

The cultural part of the Annual Report is dedicated to Felix Somary (Vienna 21.11.1881 - Zurich 11.07.1956), Austrian-Swiss banker, one of the leading experts in political economics.

Somary was born in the then imperial Vienna, from Dr. Simon Somary - lawyer of the Imperial High Court -, which enclosed the political, economic and cultural pole of the Empire. He attended the faculties of law and economics at the University of Vienna, graduated with honors and then presented his highly regarded doctoral thesis under the guidance of Carl Menger. During his university studies he published an economic essay that was also praised by the emeritus President of the Italian Republic - Luigi Einaudi. After finishing his university studies, together with his colleagues Emil Lederer, Josef Schumpeter and Otto Bauer, he joined the Anglo-Austrian bank in Vienna as Secretary of Finance, where he met Ernest Cassel.

In 1909 he moved to Berlin where, from 1910 to 1914, he was a professor at the School of Specialization in Political Science and at the same time was active in the promotion of business activities between Austria, Germany and England as well as in Eastern Europe.

In 1916, during his presence in Berlin, he wrote and published, in collaboration with Max Weber, a famous report to warn Germany and Austria against the intensification and dangers associated with the use of nuclear weapons in the navy.

In 1919, he served as Director of Blankart Bank & Co. in Zurich.

In 1926, he warned the world of international finance of the imminent danger of the famous Great Depression, which occurred on time as he had planned and began in 1929.

When the Second World War broke out, the Federal Council, having recognised his powers, commissioned him to travel to Washington to organise the supply of raw materials for the Confederation.
 At the end of the 2nd World War, he played several important and equally delicate roles and, in particular, was responsible for transferring the effects of the Rothschildhaus in Vienna to neutral Switzerland.

Somary became famous for the entire Swiss and international financial centre, not only for his entrepreneurial skills, but also for his economic and political forecasts, which he always missed out on. For this reason he was nicknamed The Crow of Zurich.

Karl Jakob Burckhardt described Felix Somary as the greatest economic and financial specialist in financial crisis analysis and forecasting ever.

In the memory of deep connoisseurs and specialists in the financial field is always present the figure of Felix Somary who is coming back in vogue, in an era like ours, so that the NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung Verlag) has proposed the reissue of an auto-biographic book on Felix Somary whose authors are Felix Somary and Tobias Straumann, entitled: "Erinnerungen aus meinem Leben".