When Emil Johann Bonert was born on 27 October 1843, in Mettmann, Rhineland, Prussia, Germany, his father, Wilhelm Bonert, was 37 and his mother, Alwine Kuhler, was 30. He married Anna Elisabeth Barten on 16 April 1874. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 1 daughter. He died on 14 October 1898, in Elberfeld, Rhineland, Prussia, Germany, at the age of 54.