Poul Cadovius

Poul Cadovius was born in Copenhagen in 1911 and was originally trained as a saddler and upholsterer. He was a colourful and successful designer with a marked influence on the Danish furniture industry and furniture design - both in his own time and later. In 1948, Cadovius designed the shelving system ROYAL SYSTEM®, which through the 50s, 60s and 70s perhaps was the largest furniture success Danish furniture industry has ever had.

Poul Cadovius is one of the most colourful and successful personalities in Danish furniture industry’s history. “Architect, designer, self-taught inventor, manufacturer, innovator, the furniture industry’s ‘enfant terrible’ - the titles are many”, as the author Henriette Houth writes in her book ”Kassebogen”. Poul Cadovius was an ambitious and constantly seeking person. When he didn’t design or produce furniture, he was driving racing cars or building luxury yachts at his own Saghitta shipyard in Svendborg. And the stories are many: When a sailboat customer claimed bad sailing-performance on a Saghitta 35 from the yard, Poul Cadovius gave the ultimate retort. He borrowed the boat and sailed ”around Zealand” - and won.

Poul Cadovius managed to take out over 400 patents - the last as a 90-yearold. Both his life and designs testify to a genuine figure that went his own way - to the delight of us all