(b Cincinnati, 27 March 1904; d New York, 21 Oct 1963). American authority on early instruments of the violin family. He was the only son of Rudolph Henry Wurlitzer, director of the Wurlitzer Company in Cincinnati. In 1924, after two years at Princeton University, he was sent to Mirecourt, to learn violin making under Amédée Dieudonné. The following year he spent six months in London as the guest of Alfred Hill of W.E. Hill & Sons, who gave him a valuable grounding in violin connoisseurship. He returned to Cincinnati and became a vice-president of the family business. In 1937 he moved to the firm's violin department in New York, which he established as an independent company under his own direction in 1949. In 1951 he was joined by the Italian restorer Fernando Sacconi (d 1973).
After Wurlitzer's death the business was continued with considerable success by his widow Anna Lee Wurlitzer, née Little (b 29 July 1912); she was aided by Sacconi and his assistant dario D'attili, who in his later capacity as manager was responsible for upholding the firm's high standard. In 1965 Mrs Wurlitzer purchased the Hottinger Collection, comprising some 30 outstanding Italian violins, including a dozen by Stradivari. The firm closed down in autumn 1974.
Wurlitzer's business was unrivalled in the USA and was patronized by leading musicians and by owners of the finest instruments. His vast knowledge and photographic memory enabled him to identify many lost Italian masterpieces. Careful records were kept of every instrument examined, and the certificates of authenticity which he issued are accepted universally.
CHARLES BEARE