Rudolf von Urbantschitsch (1879–1964)

Abstract

Rudolf von Urbantschitsch was born in Vienna on 28 April 1879 into an ennobled family of physicians. He was the youngest child of the pioneer otologist Viktor Urbantschitsch (1847–1921), a court councilor (Hofrat) and professor at the University of Vienna, who had invented a specially constructed 6-octave accordion to stimulate audition (the Urbantschitsch-Harmonica), and his wife Caroline (née Fröschl, 1852–1932). Rudolf’s grandfather, Alois Urbantschitsch (1816–1891), was also a respected physician. Rudolf’s elder brother, Ernst Urbantschitsch (1877–1984), became a professor of otorhinolaryngology in Vienna, and was the father of the Austrian–Icelandic composer, conductor and organist Victor Urbančič (1903–1958); the latter lectured in musicology at the University of Graz, later served on the faculty of the Reykjavík College of Music, and became music director of the Icelandic National Theater.