The man who gave the world self-assembly furniture

Gillis Lundgren. Pic: Bilder i Syd

A man I had never heard of before today has died. Vale Mr. Gillis Lundgren, fortuitous inventor in 1956 of flat-packed furniture and designer of the self-assembly Billy bookcase. 

We currently have eleven of them; ten up and bearing books, one still in its cardboard container waiting for Spike to finish the job. Gillis Lundgren, an unsung hero of modernity. A man who influenced the lives of tens of millions of us. Me included.