Frank Lincoln Wright was born in 1867 in Richland Center, Wisconsin and died in 1959 in Phoenix, Arizona.   Along the way he became Frank Lloyd Wright.   He was the proponent of Organic Architecture, where the buildings were to be in harmony with their surroundings.
 

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886 - 1969) was a German-born architect and teacher who was most influential in creating the mid-20th Century glass and steel and open space architecture that we have come to take for granted.

Edsko Hekman left the Netherlands in 1893 and settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan to work building furniture.  The panic of 1893 made him stop the furniture dream and go back to his original career as a baker.  Eventually he was able to found the Hekman Biscuit Company which in turn became Keebler.  Edsko's three sons were able to complete their father's dream and founded the Hakman Furniture Company in 1922.  In 1983 the company was purchased by the Howard MIller Clock Company.

A major figure in MODERNISM, Man Ray was an artist who was born in 1890 in Philadelphia but spent most of his life in Paris, dying there in 1976.
He had his own style but contributed to the Surrealist and Dada movements in art, was an important figure in Paris art scene of the 1920's and 30's.but was most known for his photography.

When I met Bjorn Winblad at a Rosenthal Event in DCOTA  back in the '80's I was amazed by this legendary artist's sense of humour and kindness.  He signed some porcelain items for me with a golden magic marker and spoke about his love of color in design.
Mr. Winblad was born in Denmark in 1918 in Copenhagen, Denmark and was one of the principal designers for the Rosenthal Porcelain Company, creating colorful round faced people surrounded in floral and foliate designs with an abundance of color.  
He died in 2006 also in Denmark.
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Marvin Markman was a gallery owner and artist working in South Florida. 

Jacques Andet was born in France in 1900 and completed his studies at the Municipal School of Design in Auxerre and in the  École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs where he was one of the Directors of the school  from 1959 - 1970.

Jens Risom was born in Denmark in 1916 to an Architect father who encouraged his son to study business and contemporary design.   He studied at the Business College of Niels Brock in Copenhagen and worked for Erns Kuhn in Denmark, crating several furniture designs for Normina.   His designs for Normina were exhibited at the Cabinetmakers Guild Exhibition in 1937.   He also worked with Nordiska Kompaniet (NK) where he was able to connect with the designs of Aalvar Alto and Bruno Mathsson.   In 1939 he arrived in the United States and went to work for Knoll, designing in 1941 one of the first

Renzo Frau registered the "trademark" Poltrona Frau in 1912.   

Mario Botta was born in Switzerland in 1943 and has his studio in Lugano.  Italian educated, he studied at the Liceo Artistico in Milan and the IUAV in Venice.  His first design for a home was when he was 16 years old!  He also designed the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.  His ideas were influenced by LeCorbusier.   http://www.lanciatrendvisions.com/en/article/the-antiquity-of-new-interv...