Arthur Kaufmann (4 April 1872 in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

– 25 July 1938 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n attorney, philosopher and chess master.

Life

Kaufmann was the second son of a wealthy, Jewish merchant family in Iaşi, Romania. In early childhood, he moved with his mother and siblings to Vienna, where he eventually attended university. He studied law and attended lectures on the history of literature and philosophy. He earned his doctorate in 1896. For a short period he worked as a legal apprentice, but his family's prosperous circumstance soon afforded him the means to live independently from his inheritance. Kaufmann considered himself primarily a philosopher. He worked for decades on a comprehensive philosophical opus, embracing

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...

and

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

’s ideas in particular, but never completed it. His only publication was a piece on

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Theory of relativity The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated physics theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical ph ...

. A philosophical fairy tale is, as his whole bequest, lost. Kaufmann regularly attended the Viennese chess club and ultimately became an internationally recognized player. In 1892, he tied for 5-6th (

Adolf Albin Adolf Albin (14 September 1848 – 22 March 1920) was a Romanian chess player. He is best known for the countergambit that bears his name and for authoring the first chess book written in Romanian. Life He was born in Bucharest, Romania t ...

won), shared 3rd in 1893/94 ( Jacques Schwarz won), twice took 2nd in 1896 and 1897/98, both behind

Georg Marco Georg Marco (29 November 1863 – 29 August 1923) was an Austrian Chess, chess player. He was born in Chernivtsi (Cernăuţi), Bukovina (then part of Austria-Hungary). He later settled in Vienna and was secretary of the Viennese Chess Associatio ...

. He drew a match with Marco (+5 -5 =0) in 1893. In 1914/15, he took 2nd, behind

Carl Schlechter Carl Schlechter (2 March 1874 – 27 December 1918) was a leading Austro-Hungarian chess master and theoretician at the turn of the 20th century. He is best known for drawing a controversial World Chess Championship match with Emanuel Lasker. Ea ...

, in Vienna ( Trebitsch Memorial). He took 3rd at Vienna 1915 (''Quadrangular'', Schlechter won), and 3rd place, behind Schlechter and

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, at Vienna 1916 (''Triangular''). He won matches against

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(+4 -1 =1) in 1915, and

Savielly Tartakower Savielly Tartakower (also known as ''Xavier'' or ''Ksawery'' ''Tartakower'', less often ''Tartacover'' or ''Tartakover''; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster (chess), Internatio ...

(+2 -0 =2) in 1916. In January 1917, with his best, historic ELO-stat of 2637, he was the eighth-best in the worldwide chess ranking (established thereafter). Due to unknown reasons, he ended his career as a chess player in 1917. Kaufmann was a close friend of the Austrian author,

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism. Schnitzler’s works, which include psychological dramas and narratives ...

, who mentioned his encounters with Kaufmann in his diary several times, expressing his appreciation of Kaufmann's personality and character. In his last will, Schnitzler appointed Kaufmann, in addition to the Austrian author, Richard Beer-Hofmann, as advisor to his son, Heinrich, in all issues regarding his literary legacy. Schnitzler's literary estate, with its notes and letters, comprises the main source of information on Kaufmann's life and ideas. Impoverished, due to World War I, Kaufmann and his younger sister, Malwine, moved from Vienna to

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in 1918, and then to

Altaussee Altaussee (; Central Bavarian: ''Oid Aussee'') is a municipality and spa town in the district of Liezen in Styria, Austria. The small village is nestled on the shores of the Lake Altaussee, beneath the Loser Plateau. Occupying an area of 92&n ...

in 1920, because life in the countryside was less expensive. Beginning in 1923, Kaufmann spent the next ten or so years as a guest of the Viennese industrialist, Wilhelm von Gutmann, in the castle of Würting, near Lambach, in Upper-Austria, before returning to Vienna. (For a number of years,

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, the founder of the

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, also enjoyed the hospitality of the Gutmann-family at the castle of Würting.) According to the official announcement, Kaufmann died on the July 25, 1938, of “sudden cardiac death and arteriosclerosis”, but various indicators point to suicide. He was buried in the Jewish section of the Viennese Central Cemetery, where bombing in WW II devastated his grave. In his last will and testament, he appointed as his heirs, his nieces, Alice Kaufmann and Sophie Kaufmann (daughters of his brother, Ludwig Kaufmann), who at that time, and following WW II, lived in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, at rue Molitor 56. All attempts to find Kaufmann's written bequest, as well as photographs of him, have been unsuccessful so far.Regarding photographs of Arthur Kaufmann see Urcan/Braunwarth, p. 238-241

Publications

Arthur Kaufmann: Zur Relativitätstheorie. Erkenntnistheoretische Erörterungen. In: Der neue Merkur 3, 1919/20, p. 587-594.

Life

Publications

References

Further reading