Jorge Zalszupin

Born in Warsaw to Jewish parents, modernist designer Jorge Zalszupin left Poland for Bucharest at 18 to escape Nazi persecution. He graduated from Romania’s top architecture program and started his career in France. Inspired by Oscar Niemeyer’s architectural innovations in rapidly modernizing Brazil, Zalszupin relocated to Rio de Janeiro in 1949. Within a decade, he had founded his own atelier with local architects, engineers, and craftsmen. Throughout the 1950s and ’60s, Zalszupin crafted furniture for Niemeyer’s utopian buildings in the new federal capital, Brasília. One of his most iconic pieces, the Dinamarquesa armchair (“Danish,” in Portuguese), brings a distinctively Brazilian touch to classic Danish modern design, another major influence on Zalszupin. Made from indigenous imbuia wood and cowhide, the flagship 1959 design features elegantly swooping arm rests. Zalszupin’s work with native wood and supply chains in Brazil helped grow the local manufacturing industry. In 2006, designer Etel Carmona reissued several of his designs with more sustainable materials.