He described his work in his own words shortly before his death as: practical analysis, integral and differential equations, mechanics, hydrodynamics and aerodynamics, constructive geometry, probability calculus, statistics and philosophy.

[citation needed][3] His older brother, Ludwig von Mises, held an opposite point of view with respect to positivism and epistemology.

His parents were Arthur Edler von Mises, a doctor of technical sciences who worked for the Austrian State Railways, and Adele Landau.

In 1905, still a student, he published an article on the geometry of curves called "Zur konstruktiven Infinitesimalgeometrie der ebenen Kurven," in the prestigious Zeitschrift für Mathematik und Physik.

In 1908, von Mises was awarded a doctorate from Vienna (his dissertation was on "the determination of flywheel masses in crank drives") and he received his habilitation from Brünn (Brno) (on "Theory of the Waterwheels") to lecture on engineering.

In 1909, at 26, he was appointed professor of applied mathematics in Straßburg, then part of the German Empire (later Strasbourg, Alsace, France) and received Prussian citizenship.

[8] With the rise of the National Socialist Party to power in 1933, Mises felt his position threatened,[citation needed] despite his First World War military service.

The Gesellschaft für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik[12] (Society of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics) awards a Richard von Mises Prize[13] since 1989.