Max Gschwind (dates unknown) was born in Germany where he was active as a stage designer. In the late thirties he came to America, During the Second World War he worked at the OSS with Laurence Lessing on graphic information for troops. In 1945 he was headhunted by Will Burtin for FORTUNE.

"The storied Max Gschwind was all you have heard and more. Aside from his astonishing achievements in the scence and technology area, Max was also our liaison with the engravers, and made most of our colour corrections. Until his retirement he held a special and unqiue place at FORTUNE, and it is noteworthy that after he left no attempt was made to replace him. It is also worth pointing out that siince Max's departure, FORTUNE's coverage of science and technology in sophisticated diagrammatic form has all but vanished." From Ronald Campbell, personal communication, September 1984