Frederick Leith-Ross

Sir Frederick Leith-Ross
Born	Frederick William Leith-Ross Template:Birth date Saint Pierre, Mauritius
Died	August 22, 1968(1968-08-22) (aged 81)
Occupation(s)	Economist, civil servant
Years active	1909–1945
Known for	Principal economic adviser to UK government (1932–1945), Leith-Ross mission to China (1935), founding role in UNRRA
Notable work	Money Talks: Fifty years of international finance

Sir Frederick William Leith-Ross, GCMG, KCB (4 February 1887 – 22 August 1968), was a distinguished Scottish economist who acted as the principal adviser to the UK government from 1932 until 1945.

Biography

Leith-Ross was born in Saint Pierre, Mauritius to banker Frederick William Arbuthnot Leith-Ross and Sina van Houten, whose father was the politician Samuel van Houten. He grew up at the family residence in Ellon, Scotland, and was the sibling of the artist Harry Leith-Ross. After achieving a double first at Balliol College, Oxford, he commenced his career at the Treasury in 1909.

In 1911, he became Private Secretary to Prime Minister H. H. Asquith. Between 1932 and 1945, he served as the UK government's chief economic adviser. During the 1930s, he was a prominent advocate of the "Treasury View" economic theory. Among his significant diplomatic contributions was leading the "Leith-Ross mission" to China in 1935 aimed at promoting currency reform. Additionally, he held positions as chairman of a Chinese bank and as chairman of P&O.

Throughout the Second World War, Leith-Ross played an instrumental role in developing plans for international humanitarian aid after the conflict. Following Prime Minister Winston Churchill's 1940 declaration promising assistance to German and Austrian populations after Nazi defeat, he chaired a government committee tasked with identifying resources to fulfill this commitment. This committee later evolved into the Inter-Allied Committee on Post-War Requirements (1941), which worked closely with European governments-in-exile to evaluate necessities for food and supplies upon liberation.

His efforts were foundational in establishing the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) in 1943. Serving as deputy under UNRRA's inaugural director-general, American Herbert Lehman, Leith-Ross was crucial in organizing this global agency designed to support millions displaced by war rather than solely providing relief to German civilians. The term displaced person originated from initiatives by his committee.

In 1912, Leith-Ross married Prudence Staples; among their children was author and biographer Prudence Leith-Ross (born 1922). His memoir, published in 1968, is entitled Money Talks: Fifty years of international finance.