Leonid Kantorovich studied at Leningrad State University, receiving his doctorate in mathematics in 1930. From 1934 to 1960 he was a professor at Leningrad. He held the chair of mathematics and economics in the Siberian branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1961-1971), then directed research at Moscow's Institute of National Economic Planning (1971-76).

L. Kantorovich entered the ranks of the greatest scientists of the 20th century due his fundamental input into mathematics and economics. His research in functional analysis, computational mathematics, optimization, and descriptive function theory and set theory greately the formation of these disciplines and layed the basics of new directions in research.

Kantorovich was one of the first to use linear programming as a tool in economics. His background was entirely in mathematics but he showed a considerable feel for the underlying economics to which he applied the mathematical techniques.

Member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences (1964).
Kantorovich was a joint winner of the 1975 Nobel Prize for economics for work on the optimal allocation of scarce resources.