Oppi Untracht was a master metalsmith, teacher, and author. He was born in New York and earned a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University in 1947, before moving permanently to Finland in 1967. He lectured and wrote on traditional Indian jewelry and culture, and was awarded a Lifetime American Achievement Award by the American Craft Council in 2000. He was the author of Metal Techniques for Craftsmen, now considered an essential textbook for silversmiths, and Jewelry Concepts and Technology. He died in 2008.