Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright, born in rural Wisconsin, was a visionary architect whose career spanned more than 70 years. He championed an architectural philosophy known as "organic architecture," integrating structures harmoniously with their natural surroundings, which sounds lovely until you realize some of those surroundings included leaky roofs and design flaws that made his clients tear out their hair (or, more likely, their checkbooks).

Despite a prodigious output and undeniable genius, Wright's personal life was, shall we say, "complex." He was married three times, had numerous affairs, and left a trail of financial woes and emotional wreckage in his wake. His studio, Taliesin, was even the site of a horrific axe murder and fire in 1914, which, while not his fault, certainly added to the dramatic flair of his biography.

So, was Frank Lloyd Wright Jewish? Despite having a surname that could be Jewish – much like how a brick could be a house – there's absolutely no evidence whatsoever to suggest he had even a drop of Jewish blood. His Unitarian upbringing was about as far from a bar mitzvah as you can get.

However, we'll give him a respectable K-score for his sheer audacity and for leaving behind a legacy of architectural marvels (and a few disasters). His contributions to modern architecture are undeniable, even if his personal character was somewhat less than pristine. We kvell at the thought of all those cantilevered roofs defying gravity, even if they occasionally defied waterproofing as well.