Born in Innsbruck, Austria, in1917, Ettore Sottsass took a degree in Architecture at the Politecnico of Turin in 1939. In 1947 he set up his own studio in Milan. In 1959 he designed the first Italian electronic calculator and typewriter models such as Praxis, Tekne and Valentine. A Valentine typewriter is now included in the permanent collection at New York MOMA. In 1980 he founded the firm Sottsass Associati. He died on December, 31, 2007 in Milan.