It changed his life. Erich took Houdin's last name, changed the pronunciation and added and "i" at the end.
VOA: special.2010.12.19
Then he read about a famous French magician named Jean Eugne Robert-Houdin.
VOA: special.2010.12.19
Born in Blois, France, in 1805, Robert-Houdin gave rise to many modern magic tropes, such as performing in massive curtained theatres (as opposed to in sideshows) and dressing in formal tailcoats.
Bernard Houdin, an adviser to former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo, said that such payments were "a historical practice" and that "the sums mentioned are no doubt below reality".
The project is a separate one from Jean-Pierre Houdin's construction analysis, but has also been developed with help of Dassault Systemes - and in collaboration with an international team of researchers.