Rudolf Kassner (11 September 1873 Velké Pavlovice – 1 April 1959 Sierre, Switzerland) was an Austrian writer, essayist, translator and cultural philosopher.

Although stricken as an infant with poliomyelitis, Kassner traveled widely to northern Africa, the Sahara, India, Russia, Spain, and throughout Europe.

His writings on physiognomy reflect his effort to understand the problems of modernity and Man's subsequent disconnectedness from time and place.

His later autobiographical writings suggest a brilliant literary mind attempting to make sense of a chaotic post-nuclear world.

This formed the basis for later reflections on acting and the role of the actor, important for Kassner's physiognomic worldview, the return from the world of numbers to the kingdom of images.