Michael Thonet (2 July 1796 — 3 March 1871) was a German-Austrian cabinet maker. Thonet was the son of master tanner Franz Anton Thonet of Boppard. Following a carpenter's apprenticeship, Thonet set himself up as an independent cabinetmaker in 1819. A year later, he married Anna Grahs, with whom he had seven sons and six daughters. Only five of the sons, however, survived early childhood. In the 1830s, Thonet began trying to make furniture out of glued and bent wooden slats. His first success… Read more...