Józef Kazimierz Hofmann (January 20, 1876 – February 16, 1957) was a Polish-American pianist and composer.
Famous as a child prodigy in Poland, he studied with Russian virtuoso Anton Rubinstein. He was also gifted mechanically and invented mechanisms for the piano.
Hofmann spent most of his career in the United States, where he taught at the Curtis Institute of Music. He made many recordings beginning in 1903, the earliest days of 78s, through the 1950s.
Famously, he had very small hands, which were unable to stretch further than an octave. Steinway eventually built him a custom piano with slightly narrower keys than usual, which allowed him to stretch across a ninth.
Rachmaninov considered Hofmann his equal as a pianist and dedicated his Piano Concerto No. 3 to him. Hofman never played it, however, a fact attributed by many to his small hands (although this is not necessarily an insurmountable obstacle).
Hofmann had an encylopedic repertoire, only a small part of which has survived in recordings and piano rolls. However, he is now regarded as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th Century.
Hofmann also invented the first automobile windscreen wiper.
