Johan Palmstruch

Johan Palmstruch (June 13, 1611 – March 8, 1671) was a Latvian-born German/Dutch/Swedish entrepreneur, financier, and financial innovator. He is credited with the introduction of paper money to Europe. Biography Johan (Hans) Wittmacher was born in Riga where his father Reinholt was a merchant. His ancestor probably came from the county of Holstein. Around 1634, he moved to Amsterdam. Johan married Margrieta van der Bosch (1617-1677) in February 1644. In the same year a daughter was baptized in Oude Kerk, Amsterdam. He became a commissioner in the National Board of Trade after his arrival in Sweden in 1647. He began submitting proposals for banking institutions to King Charles X Gustav after 1654. The first two such proposals were rejected but the third, which promised half the bank's profits to the crown, was accepted. He was made a Swedish nobleman under the surname Palmstruch and become a commissioner at the National College of Commerce. Stockholms Banco was thus founded in Stockholm during 1657 with Palmstruch appointed as bank director and general manager. The bank itself was nothing new as it was simply an imitation of the successful public deposit banks of Amsterdam and Hamburg, however Palmstruch himself added two important innovations.