Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 26. Chapters: Estonian immigrants to the United States, Estonian refugees, Louis Kahn, Harry Männil, Bill Rebane, Neeme Järvi, Ernst Öpik, Hillar Rootare, Rein Taagepera, Ortvin Sarapu, August Komendant, Paul Felix Schmidt, Paavo Järvi, Ragnar Nurkse, Michael Roos, Kristjan Järvi, List of Estonian exile and émigré organizations, Johann Urb, Vladimir Padwa, Priit Vesilind, Lauri Vaska, Jaan Ehlvest, Helen Tobias-Duesberg, Samuel H. Shapiro, Tõnu Kalam, Gustav Suits, Avdy Andresson, Arvi Parbo, Leon Sibul, Aleksander Einseln, Leho Laurine, Edmund S. Valtman, Ain Saar. Excerpt: Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky) (February 20, 1901 or 1902 - March 17, 1974) was a world-renowned American architect of Estonian Jewish origin, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. While continuing his private practice, he served as a design critic and professor of architecture at Yale School of Architecture from 1947 to 1957. From 1957 until his death, he was a professor of architecture at the School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania. Influenced by ancient ruins, Kahn's style tends to the monumental and monolithic; his heavy buildings do not hide their weight, their materials, or the way they are assembled. Louis Kahn's works are considered as monumental beyond modernism. Jesse Oser House, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania (1940)Louis Kahn, whose original name was Itze-Leib (Leiser-Itze) Schmuilowsky (Schmalowski), was born into a poor Jewish family in Pärnu and spent the rest of his early childhood in Kuressaare on the Estonian island of Saaremaa, then part of the Russian Empire. At age 3, he saw coals in the stove and was captivated by the light of the coal. He put the coal in an apron which later seared his face. He carried these scars for the rest of his life. In 1906, his family immigrated to the United States, fearing that his father would be recalled into the military during the Russo-Japanese War. His actual birth year may have been inaccurately recorded in the process of immigration. According to his son's documentary film in 2003 the family couldn't afford pencils but made their own charcoal sticks from burnt twigs so that Louis could earn a little money from drawings and later by playing piano to accompany silent movies. He became a naturalized citizen on May 15, 1914. His father changed their name in 1915. He trained in a rigorous Beaux-Arts tradition, with its emphasis on drawing, at the University of Pennsylvania