Krishna Bharadwaj was unique among economic theorists of her generation in that she directed her scholarship and research entirely to the foundations of economic theories of both classical and neoclassical traditions. In this, she followed Piero Sraffa’s critical and reconstructive agendas. Bharadwaj was also unique among development economists of her and later generations in that she never relied on capitalist and commodity-centric categories or modifications of received theories. Instead, she developed a fresh framework of production and exchange conditions in large agrarian economies such as India, drawing upon the principle of historical “openness” of classical political economy. She was known as an institution builder and for her endearing ways with students and peers.