Michel Fingesten, known as Fingesten, was born in 1884 in Buzkovice u Ostravy, Czech, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and in Monaco with Franz von Stuck.  

Fingesten moved to Berlin in 1913, and his work was published in magazines like Genius and Marsyas. A genius of the Ex Libris, he became isolated when Nazism advanced. In  1935, Fingesten left Germany and for Italy, where he lived in Trieste and Milan.

Michel Fingesten, of Jewish descent, was one of the most original and prolific graphic artists and bookplates designers of the twentieth century. According to the Italian journalist and critic Giampiero Mughini, "Fingesten is to the history of the ex libris as Pablo Picasso is to that of painting".