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Srich32977 (talk | contribs) m Changing short description from "British businessman and libertarian think tank founder" to "British businessman and think tank founder (1915–1988)" (Shortdesc helper) |
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{{EngvarB|date=October 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
| name =
| honorific_suffix = [[Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)|AFC]]
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| caption =
| birth_name = Antony George Anson Fisher
| birth_date = 28 June 1915
| birth_place = [[Kensington]], England
| death_date = {{
| death_place = [[San Francisco]], California, U.S.
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| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| nationality = British▼
| other_names = ▼
▲| nationality = British
| known_for = Founder of [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] [[think-tanks]]
▲| other_names =
| education = [[Eton College]]
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| employer = ▼
| occupation = Businessman▼
▲| employer =
| title =
▲| occupation = Businessman
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| spouse = 2, including Dorian Fisher▼
| children = 4, including [[Linda Whetstone]]▼
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| relatives = [[Rachel Whetstone]] <small>(granddaughter)</small>▼
▲| spouse = 2, including Dorian Fisher
▲| children = 4, including [[Linda Whetstone]]
▲| relatives = [[Rachel Whetstone]] <small>(granddaughter)</small>
}}
'''Sir Antony George Anson Fisher''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|AFC}} (28 June 1915 – 8 July 1988), nicknamed '''AGAF''', was a British businessman and [[think tank]] founder. He participated in the formation of various [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] organisations during the second half of the twentieth century, including the [[Institute of Economic Affairs]] and the [[Atlas Network]]. Through Atlas Network, he helped establish up to 150 other institutions worldwide.
==Early life==
Antony Fisher was born on 28 June 1915, into a wealthy mining family.<ref name="blundellladiesforliberty">John Blundell, ''Ladies for Liberty: Women who Made a Difference in American History'', New York City: Algora Publishing, 2011, chapter 20: 'Dorian Fisher', pp. 195–200 [https://books.google.
During the [[Second World War]], Fisher served as a fighter pilot in the [[Royal Air Force]],<ref name="blundellladiesforliberty" /> being awarded the [[Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)|Air Force Cross]]. He and his brother Basil Fisher were assigned to the 111 Hurricane Squadron, which was in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frost |first=Gerald |title=Antony Fisher, Champion of Liberty |publisher=Profile Books, Ltd |year=2002 |isbn=1-86197-505-8 |edition=1st |location=London, England |pages=24–30 |language=English}}</ref> Shortly after that posting, in April 1940, their cousin Michael Fisher was killed in the Battle of Flanders.<ref name="championofliberty" /> A few days later Fisher's closest friend and a member of the 111 Hurricane Squadron, David Berry, was killed when his Hurricane was shot down over Flanders during the Dunkirk evacuation.<ref name="championofliberty" /> On 15 August 1940, Fisher saw his brother Basil plummet to his death after Basil's Hurricane was shot down and his parachute caught fire.<ref name="championofliberty" /> The experience both traumatised Fisher and, according to a biography, galvanised him into a belief that he must act to make the world a freer and more prosperous place where nation states would not go to war.<ref name="championofliberty" />
==Career==
{{More citations needed|section|date=January 2023}}
After World War II, Fisher was alarmed by the election of a Labour government, the nationalisation of industry, and the introduction of central economic planning.<ref name="Atlas"/> In 1945, he had read ''[[The Road to Serfdom]]'' by Austrian economist [[F. A. Hayek]] which influenced his thinking. Fisher sought out Hayek at the [[London School of Economics]] (where he taught) and talked about his plans to go into politics. Hayek, however, convinced him that think-tanks were the best medium for effecting political change.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Economic Apostle: How One Man Made Our Modern Economy |url=https://www.bruineconjournal.com/articles/the-economic-apostle-how-one-man-made-our-modern-economy |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=Bruin Economics Journal |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Antony Fisher: Champion of Liberty |url=https://iea.org.uk/publications/research/antony-fisher-champion-of-liberty/ |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=Institute of Economic Affairs |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Geoghegan |first=Peter |date=2024-05-29 |title=The Invisible Doctrine by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison review – neoliberalism's ascent |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/may/29/the-invisible-doctrine-by-george-monbiot-and-peter-hutchison-review-neoliberalisms-ascent |access-date=2024-07-23 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
In 1952,
In 1971, Fisher founded the
In his book ''
In 1977, Cockett wrote, Fisher moved to San Francisco "with his second wife Dorian, who he had met through the [[Mont Pelerin Society]], and founded the [[Pacific Research Institute]] in 1979" and Fisher and [[Milton Friedman]] lived in the same apartment block in San Francisco during the 1980s. In the late 1970s, Fisher assisted [[Greg Lindsay]] in the development of the [[Centre for Independent Studies]] in Sydney. Cockett wrote, "In 1981, to co-ordinate and establish a central focus for these institutes that Fisher
▲In 1971 Fisher founded the [[International Institute for Economic Research]], which went to spawn both the [[Atlas Network]] in 1981 and the [[International Policy Network]] in 2001. Through these operations, Fisher provided financial and operational support for a huge number of fledgling think-tanks, most of which would not exist without his influence. It was through the Atlas Network that Fisher was able to extend his beliefs worldwide. By 1984, Fisher was watching over eighteen institutions in eleven countries.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050414202413/http://www.libertyhaven.com/theoreticalorphilosophicalissues/history/earlyhistory.html Early history]</ref> As of 2017, Atlas supports and works with nearly 500 free-market think-tanks in over 90 different countries.
▲In his book ''[[Thinking the Unthinkable]]'', [[Richard Cockett]] sketched Fisher's role in supporting other emerging think-tanks around the world. Cockett wrote, "On the strength of his reputation with the IEA, he was invited in 1975 to become co-director of the [[Fraser Institute]] in Vancouver, founded by the Canadian businessman [[T. Patrick Boyle]] in 1974. Fisher let the young director of the Fraser Institute, Dr [[Michael Walker (economist)|Michael Walker]], get on with the intellectual output of the Institute (just as he had given free rein to Seldon and Harris at the IEA) while he himself concentrated on the fund-raising side". Cockett explained that after his success at the Fraser Institute, Fisher went to New York where in 1977 he set up the International Center for Economic Policy Studies (ICEPS), later renamed the [[Manhattan Institute]]. "The incorporation documents for the ICEPS were signed by prominent attorney [[William J. Casey|Bill Casey]], later Director of the Central Intelligence Agency". Cockett comments that "under the directorship of [[William Hammett]] the Manhattan Institute became probably Fisher's greatest success after the IEA".
▲In 1977, Cockett wrote, Fisher moved to San Francisco "with his second wife Dorian, who he had met through the [[Mont Pelerin Society]], and founded the [[Pacific Research Institute]] in 1979" and Fisher and [[Milton Friedman]] lived in the same apartment block in San Francisco during the 1980s. In the late 1970s, Fisher assisted [[Greg Lindsay]] in the development of the [[Centre for Independent Studies]] in Sydney. Cockett wrote, "In 1981, to co-ordinate and establish a central focus for these institutes that Fisher found himself start up all over the world, he created the Atlas Economic Research Foundation which in 1987 joined up with the [[Institute for Humane Studies]] (IHS) (founded by the Mont Pelerin member [[F. A. Harper]] in 1961) to provide a central institutional structure for what quickly became an ever-expanding number of international free-market think-tanks or research institutes". According to Cokett, "Fisher used the local and international gatherings of the Mont Pelerin Society to find personnel, fund-raisers and donors for many of the Atlas Institutes" as the international think-tanks proliferated.
▲He was a co-founder of the [[Fraser Institute]], the [[Manhattan Institute]], the [[Pacific Research Institute]], the [[National Center for Policy Analysis]], the [[Centre for Independent Studies]], and the [[Adam Smith Institute]].
==Personal life==
==Death==
==References==
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'''Bibliography'''
* Cockett, Richard (1995). ''Thinking the Unthinkable: Think-Tanks and the Economic Counter-Revolution, 1931–1983''. [[Fontana Books|Fontana Press]]. {{ISBN|0006375863}}.
* Kwang, Jo (2008). [http://sk.sagepub.com/reference/libertarianism/n108.xml "Fisher, Antony (1915–1988)".] In [[Ronald Hamowy|Hamowy, Ronald]] (ed.). [https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC ''The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism''.] Thousand Oaks, CA: [[SAGE
==External links==
* [[John Blundell (economist)|John Blundell]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20050222201544/http://www.atlasusa.org/toolkit/waging_war.php?refer=toolkit Waging the War of Ideas], speech to
▲* [[John Blundell (economist)|John Blundell]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20050222201544/http://www.atlasusa.org/toolkit/waging_war.php?refer=toolkit Waging the War of Ideas], speech to the [[Heritage Foundation]], January 1990
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2011/09/the_curse_of_tina.html Article by Adam Curtis about think tanks, featuring Antony Fisher] from the [[BBC]]
* [https://www.oxfordhayek.org/the-a-fisher-club] from the [[BBC]]
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