| Birth Name: | Artur Manfred Max Neef |
| Birth Date: | 26 October 1932 |
| Birth Place: | Valparaíso, Chile |
| Death Place: | Valdivia, Chile |
| Fields: | Economics |
| Workplaces: | University of California, Berkeley |
| Alma Mater: | University of Chile |
| Awards: | Right Livelihood Award |
Artur Manfred Max Neef (pronounced as /es/; 26 October 1932 – 8 August 2019) was a Chilean economist of German descent. Max-Neef was born in Valparaíso, Chile. He started his career as a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley in the early 1960s. He was known for his taxonomy of fundamental human needs and human scale development. In 1983, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "revitalising small and medium-sized communities through 'Barefoot Economics'."[1]
Max-Neef was born on 26 October 1932 in Valparaíso, Chile, the son of Magdalena Sophie Neef, a humanities and music student, and Alfred Wilhelm Hermann Max, an economist. Both Max-Neef's parents had emigrated to Chile from Germany following World War I.[2] Max-Neef studied at the Liceo de Aplicación in Santiago before going on to graduate with a degree in economics from the University of Chile.[3]
Max-Neef traveled through Latin America and the United States, as a visiting professor in various universities, as well as living with and researching the poor.[4] Due to the 1973 military coup in Chile, he sought refuge in Argentina, Canada, the United States, and Europe. He worked with the problem of development in the Third World, describing the inappropriateness of conventional models of development that have contributed to poverty, debt and ecological disasters for Third World communities.
In 1981, Max-Neef wrote From the Outside Looking In: Experiences in Barefoot Economics, a narrative of his travels among the poor in South America. In the same year, he founded the Centre for Development Alternatives (CEPAUR).[5]
In 1982, Max-Neef won the Right Livelihood Award for his work in poverty-stricken areas of developing countries. Max-Neef ran for President of Chile as an independent in the 1993 election. He achieved 4th place, with 5.55% of the vote.
In 1993, Max-Neef was appointed rector of the Universidad Austral de Chile in Valdivia. He served in that position for eight years. He is also affiliated with the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Club of Rome, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the Leopold Kohr Academy of Salzburg (an institution founded by Leopold Kohr).
Among his honoraria were: the University Award of Highest Honour (Sōka University); Doctor Honoris Causa (University of Jordan); Chile's National Prize for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights; and the Kenneth Boulding Award, the highest honour bestowed by the International Society for Ecological Economics (August 2008). On 10 May 2009, he received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters and was Commencement Speaker to the 158th Graduating Class of Saint Francis University.
Max-Neef was a council member of the World Future Council.