Michael Thonet (2 July 1796, Boppard – 3 March 1871, Vienna) was a German-Austrian cabinet maker, known for the invention of bentwood furniture. In the 1830s, Thonet experimented with strips of veneer softened in hot glue before inventing “bentwood furniture”. In 1842, Prince Metternich, struck by the talent of the Rhine cabinetmaker, called him to Vienna. Here Michael Thonet dedicates himself, with his children, to making parquet and furniture for the Liechtenstein Palace and the Schwarzenberg Palace. With the creation of the chair No. 14 for the Daum café on the Kohlmarkt in Vienna, he soon conquered the scene of the Viennese cafes, laying the foundations for the development of the furniture sector intended for the "community", ie public environments. source: Wikipedia