The ‘Vera Anstey South Asia Essay Competition’ is established by the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ South Asia Centre in honour of ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ alumnus and Reader Vera Anstey (1889–1976).
British economist, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ alumnus and former ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Lecturer and Reader Vera Anstey née Powell had a lifelong connection with South Asia, particularly the Indian subcontinent.
A year after graduating from ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ in 1913 with a first class honours degree in Economic History, and where she was a founding member of the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Hockey team, Vera moved to Bombay with her husband Percy Anstey (ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ graduate and former President of the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Students’ Union), which ignited her interest in the country’s economy. Whilst there, she worked as an examiner in Economic Theory for the B Commerce degree at the Sydenham College for Commerce and Economics.
However, Vera had to return to England in 1920 after Percy, and their youngest son Arthur, died of cholera. Back in London, Vera took up a regular teaching position at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ in 1922; she published The Trade of the Indian Ocean, and The Economic Development of India (both in 1929), the latter dealing comprehensively with the Indian subcontinent’s economy, and offering an analysis of, as Vera wrote, ‘the great material potentiality of India and the meagre economic achievements of the bulk of the population’.
In 1941, Vera was recommended for promotion to the Sir Ernest Cassel Readership in Commerce by the renowned ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Economist Friedrich Hayek. She retired from ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ in 1954, but remained a part-time member of staff until 1964, having also served as Dean of Faculty of Economics for University of London (1950–54), and on the Royal Commission on the Taxation of Profits and Income (1950–55). Upon her retirement, she published Introduction to Economics for Students in India and Pakistan (1964).
While an academic at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳, Vera played an active role with students. She was Chair of the Admissions Committee for Undergraduates (1939–59), Chairman of First Year Advisers, and Lodgings Officer during ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳’s wartime exile in Cambridge. In this latter role, she cycled around Cambridge persuading local landlords to take in ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ students – not always an easy task for the School’s many overseas students. Throughout her career at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳, she focussed on teaching and supporting students, particularly those from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
In 1976 the Vera Anstey Suite in the Old Building was named in Vera’s honour to celebrate her long and dedicated service to the School.
Read ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Archivist Sue Donnelly's blogpost ', 11 April 2018.