1. Paul Wittgenstein was an Austrian-American concert pianist notable for commissioning new piano concerti for the left hand alone, after his right arm was amputated during World War I He devised novel techniques, including pedal and hand-movement combinations, that allowed him to play chords previously thought impossible for a five-fingered pianist.
Paul Wittgenstein was an older brother of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Paul Wittgenstein was raised as a Catholic; three of his grandparents had converted from Judaism as adults.
Paul Wittgenstein's grandmother, Fanny Wittgenstein, was a first cousin of the violinist Joseph Joachim, whom she adopted and took to Leipzig to study with Felix Mendelssohn.
Paul Wittgenstein studied with Malvine Bree and later with the Polish virtuoso Theodor Leschetizky.
Paul Wittgenstein made his public debut in 1913, attracting favorable reviews.
Paul Wittgenstein was shot in the elbow and captured by the Russians during the Battle of Galicia, and his right arm had to be amputated.
Paul Wittgenstein then approached more famous composers, asking them to write material for him to perform.
Paul Wittgenstein told Prokofiev that he did not understand his 4th Piano Concerto but would someday play it; he never did.
Paul Wittgenstein could take this approach because he inserted into his contracts with composers the stipulation that he held the unique performing rights on a composition during his lifetime.
Pianists born after Paul Wittgenstein who lost the use of their right hands, such as Leon Fleisher and Joao Carlos Martins, played works composed for him.
The Wittgenstein family converted to Christianity three generations before Paul's birth on the paternal side and two generations before on the maternal side, but they were of mainly Jewish descent, and under the Nuremberg laws they were classed as Jews.
Paul Wittgenstein, who was no longer permitted to perform in public under the Nazis, moved to the US in 1938.
Paul Wittgenstein became a US citizen in 1946 and spent the rest of his life in the US, where he did much teaching as well as playing.
Paul Wittgenstein died in New York City in 1961 and was buried on Long Island, but later disinterred and reburied in Pinegrove Cemetery, South Sterling, Pike County, Pennsylvania, where his widow had moved.
Paul Wittgenstein collected works by artists of the Vienna Secession, especially Gustav Klimt.
Paul Wittgenstein had a large collection of music and musical instruments.
Paul Wittgenstein appears as a character in Derek Jarman's 1993 film Paul Wittgenstein, about his brother Ludwig.
Paul Wittgenstein is referenced extensively in the latter half of Brian Evenson's novel Last Days.
Paul Wittgenstein's life is the basis for the song "Paul Wittgenstein's Arm" on Neil Halstead's 2012 album Palindrome Hunches.