Early Life and Education
Kahn grew up in Paris, France, born to Jewish immigrants of modest means. His mother was an Auschwitz survivor, his father a mechanical engineer with a Socialist bent.
Kahn was educated in mathematics at ETH Zurich, Switzerland (Swiss Federal Polytechnic Institute), and University of Nice, France. He received a masters in mathematics. He also majored in musicology and classical flute at the Zurich Music Conservatory in Switzerland. As a student, Kahn developed software for the MICRAL, the earliest non-kit personal computer based on a microprocessor. The MICRAL is now credited by the Computer History Museum as the first ever microprocessor-based personal computer.
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