Paul Kletzki was a Swiss conductor and composer of Polish origin. He began playing violin in his hometown’s orchestra at age fourteen and studied at the Warsaw Academy of Music before continuing his studies in Berlin. In the 1920s, he established himself as both a composer and conductor, with his works performed by figures such as Wilhelm Furtwängler and Arturo Toscanini; in 1928, he conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, including the Berlin premiere of his Violin Concerto in G major. Forced to flee Nazi Germany in 1933, he moved to Milan, later working in Kharkiv, and ultimately settled in Switzerland in 1939, becoming a Swiss citizen in 1947. After World War II, he worked internationally as a guest conductor and held major posts including music director of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (from 1954), principal conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (1958–1962), and later leader of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (1967–1970), as well as conducting the Bern Symphony Orchestra. He died on March 5, 1973, in Liverpool.
