Luis Kutner; Chicago Lawyer, Poet, Painter and Playwright

Luis Kutner, 84, colorful Chicago lawyer who originated the “living will” in 1930 so critically ill patients could forgo artificial life support, and who co-founded Amnesty International in 1961. For six decades, Kutner also advocated World Habeus Corpus, an international tribunal to resolve conflicts between nations. A Renaissance man, Kutner was judged one of the 15 foremost poets in America in 1952 and and his paintings are exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He graduated from law school at the age of 21, ran unsuccessfully for Congress at the age of 27, and in between wrote a play about a U.S. woman President in 1931. His international clients included Hungarian Cardinal Josef Mindszenty, poet Ezra Pound and deposed Congo President Moise Tshombe. On Monday in Chicago.