Murray Newton Rothbard was born on March 2, 1926, in New York, the son of David and Rae Rothbard. From an early age he showed remarkable talent, excelling at Columbia University, where he studied mathematics and economics. It was through the Foundation for Economic Education that he encountered the ideas of Ludwig von Mises — a meeting that would shape his entire intellectual life. Reading Human Action (1949) led him to embrace a coherent and rigorous vision of a free economy.

In 1956, he completed his doctorate and began an extraordinarily fertile intellectual career. His work Man, Economy, and State (1962) became a landmark of economic theory, in which he developed a systematic analysis of how markets function and explored questions of capital, monopoly, and economic calculation.

By taking the logic of the free market to its ultimate conclusions, Rothbard formulated and systematised what would come to be known as anarcho-capitalism: the idea that all goods and services — including defence, justice, and security — can be provided voluntarily, without the need for a State.

Beyond his numerous contributions to the body of ideas of the Austrian School of Economics, he also distinguished himself as a historian and political philosopher. In works such as America's Great Depression and The Ethics of Liberty, he explained the failures of interventionist policies and developed the ethical foundations of a free society, grounded in the principle of self-ownership.

A tireless thinker and prolific author, Rothbard combined academic rigour with a strong ambition to influence the real world. He passed away on January 7, 1995. His legacy endures as one of the clearest and boldest defences of individual freedom.