1 Piero Sraffa at the University of Cambridge By Maria Cristina Marcuzzo 1 “You are a complete cipher to the outside world” (RFK to PS, 17 Feb 1933; SP : C/150) 1. Sraffa and the Cambridge Economics Faculty My aim in this paper is to reconstruct the academic figure of Sraffa at Cambridge as it emerges from his papers, his correspondence with the economists with whom he had special relations, and the official documents of the University, 2 in particular in connection with his role in the Faculty of Economics and Politics, to which he belonged from 1927 to 1965. At Cambridge academic life is indissolubly bound up with the college that one belongs to. In Sraffa’s case this was King’s, where he began as a Member of High Table to become later a College Member, and Trinity, where was appointed fellow in 1939; again, for this aspect of Sraffa’s life and academic experience I shall endeavour to give an account as far as possible based on the existing documentation. 3 1 Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Via A. Cesalpino 12, 00161 Roma. This is an amendend version of an article published in Italian (Marcuzzo 2004). My thanks are due to Giancarlo De Vivo, Brian McGuiness, Nerio Naldi, Fabio Ranchetti, Alessandro Roncaglia, Annalisa Rosselli, Giordano Sivini, Sergio Steve and two anonymous referees, for their comments and suggestions. Of course, the final responsibility is mine alone. I am grateful to Alex Saunders for help in research, the Provost and Fellows of King’s College, Cambridge, for permission to quote from unpublished writings by J. M. Keynes and J. Robinson and, finally, Pierangelo Garegnani for permission to quote from unpublished writings by Sraffa, The following abbreviations are used in the text: ACP: Pigou; DHR: Robertson; EAGR: Austin Robinson; GS: Shove; JMK: Keynes; JVR: Joan Robinson; LLK: Lydia Keynes; MHD: Dobb; NK: Kaldor, RFK : Kahn, PS: Sraffa. ARP : Austin Robinson Papers, Marshall Library, Cambridge; DRP : Robertson Papers, Trinity College, Cambridge; JRP : Joan Robinson Papers, King's College, Cambridge; KP : Keynes Papers, King's College, Cambridge; MDP : Dobb Papers, Trinity College, Cambridge; NKP : Kaldor Papers, King's College, Cambridge; RKP: Kahn Papers, King's College, Cambridge; REP : Royal Economic Society Papers, British Library, London; RSP : Stone Papers, King's College, Cambridge; SP : Sraffa Papers, Trinity College, Cambridge. 2 Published in the University of Cambridge Reporter, or to be found in the minutes of the Faculty Board (MFB ) or Degree Committee (MDC ). 3 For comprehensive appraisal of the work, thought and influence of Sraffa, see Roncaglia 2000.