Carl Herman Unthan

Carl Herman Unthan (1848-?) was a Prussian-born violinist who was born without hands.

Carl Herman Unthan was born in Prussia in 1848 to the family of a teacher. Despite his deformities, he survived and learned to use his bare feet to manipulate objects, including a violin he found in a family attic.

When Unthan was sixteen, he was sent to a conservatory and graduated a couple of years later.

By the age of 20, Unthan was a famous violinist who performed to full concert halls in Vienna with classical orchestras. He began with personal concerts and later added additional tricks to his repertoire - changing a broken string in a middle of a concert, lighting cigarettes, pouring drinks and doing card tricks. Later he married Antonie Neschta, whom he had toured with for a time. He moved to the United States and eventually gained citizenship.

In 1925, Unthan published an autobiography, Das Pediscript (instead of manuscript – because he had typed it with his feet, pedally, as opposed to manually). It was published in English 1935 and entitled The Armless Fiddler.