Paul Wittgenstein (November 5, 1887 – March 3, 1961) was an Austrian-American concert pianist notable for commissioning new piano concerti for the left hand alone, following the amputation of his right arm during the First World War.

He devised novel techniques, including pedal and hand-movement combinations, that allowed him to play chords previously regarded as impossible for a five-fingered pianist.

The household was frequently visited by prominent cultural figures, among them the composers Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler, Josef Labor, and Richard Strauss, with whom the young Paul played duets.

[5] Following the end of the war, Wittgenstein studied intensely, arranging pieces for the left hand alone and learning the new composition written for him by Labor.

[11] Following the rise of the Nazi Party and the annexation of Austria, Paul tried to persuade his elder sisters Hermine and Helene (69 and 64 years old at the time) to leave Vienna, but they demurred: they were attached to their homes there, and could not believe such a distinguished family as theirs was in real danger.

From there he and Gretl, with some assistance from Ludwig (who acquired British nationality in 1939), managed to use family finances (mostly held abroad) and legal connections to attain non-Jewish status for their sisters.

The family's financial portfolio consisted of properties and other assets in Germany and occupied lands with a total value of about US$6 billion, which may have been the largest private fortune in Europe.

In 1940 he spent seven months in Cuba, attempting to secure permanent visas for Hilde and himself, and it was in Havana, on 20 August 1940, that they married in a Catholic ceremony.

[12] When his wife and children arrived in the United States in 1941 he set them up in a house on Long Island, which he visited at weekends from his apartment on Riverside Drive.

He died in New York City in 1961 and was initially buried on Long Island, but was later disinterred and reburied in Pinegrove Cemetery, South Sterling, Pike County, Pennsylvania, where his widow had moved.

[15] An episode of the long-running American television series M*A*S*H, "Morale Victory", featured James Stephens as a drafted concert pianist with debilitating nerve damage in his right hand after being wounded in combat.

The short story "Transfigured Night" (found in the collections The Dream Lover and The Destiny of Natalie 'X' by William Boyd) features Paul Wittgenstein.