Kantorovich, Leonid Vitaliyevich, kan TAWR uh vihch, LAY uh nihd vih TAL yuh vihch (1912-1986), was a Russian mathematician and economist. In 1975, he shared the Nobel Prize for economics with Tjalling Koopmans of the United States for their work on how economic resources should be distributed and used (see Koopmans, Tjalling Charles).