Every two years the European Historical Economics Society awards a prize for the best dissertation in economic history submitted in the preceding two years. The Prize is named after Gino Luzzatto (1878-1964), one of the most distinguished Italian economic historians. Luzzatto, a professor at the University of Venice, was forced by fascism to resign as Rector (President) of the University on account of his Jewish origins. He was reinstated after the war. Luzzatto's scholarship, spanning two millennia, was devoted to the history of the Italian economy and to that of the Republic of Venice. The prize was endowed by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Venezia and by Sistemi Operativi s.r.l.

The 2001 prize was awarded jointly to Yadira Gonzalez de Lara and Liam Brunt, with Regina Grafe as runner-up. Summaries of these dissertations appear in the following pages.