Slovene-Italian architect Max Fabiani died on this day in 1962 in Gorizia, Italy at age 97. Associated with the Art Nouveau (Jugendstil), Fabiani got his start in Vienna, where he designed buildings such as the Portois & Fix headquarters in 1899, the Artaria House in the Kohlmarkt in 1900, and the Urania institute and observatory between 1905 and 1909. He also worked in Ljubljana and Prague and moved to Italy after the fall of the Habsburg Empire, where he remained until his death, occupying himself with rebuilding structures damaged in World War I. As he grew older, Fabiani became quite eccentric, publishing odd theories such as a treatise on the superiority of redheads. Nevertheless, he retained the respect of the Italian architectural community and received the Italian Order of Culture and Merit in 1951, a year after its inauguration.
Reference: Richard Bassett. “Fabiani, Max.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web.
Further reading: Art Nouveau