- Johan Björnsson Printz
Johan Björnsson Printz (
July 20 ,1592 –May 3 ,1663 ) wasgovernor from 1643 until 1653 of the Swedishcolony ofNew Sweden on theDelaware River inNorth America . He was a very large man, reputably over 400 pounds, which earned him the nickname "Big Belly," from the native people, the Lenni Lenape Indians.Born in
Bottnaryd ,Jönköping County , in the province ofSmåland , Printz served under KingGustavus Adolphus of Sweden both inPoland and in theThirty Years' War . In 1642 he was ennobled and appointed to be the first royal governor of New Sweden. He arrived in the colony on15 February 1643 with two ships, "Fama" (Fawn) and "Svanen" (The Swan).Under his rule the Swedish colony initially prospered, and he built "
Fort Nya Elfsborg " on the east bank of the Delaware and "Fort New Gothenburg" on Tinicum Island (to the immediate SW of today'sPhiladelphia ), where he also built his own manor house which he called "Printzhof". Before long, however, problems with the surrounding Dutch and English colonies became increasingly severe. Short of supplies from Sweden, Printz was unable to prevent the Dutch and the English from practically monopolizing the beaver fur trade in the area. His main adversary wasPeter Stuyvesant , Director General ofNew Netherlands .In the end, Printz found his position impossible and in 1654 he returned to
Sweden where he spent the next three years without an official position. In 1658 he was appointed Governor ofJönköping . His son-in-lawJohan Papegoya succeed him as the governor of New Sweden.s-ttl|title= Governor of New Sweden
years= February 1643 - October 1653ources
* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9061425/Johan-Bjornsson-Printz Encyclopedia Britannica]
External links
* [http://www.colonialswedes.org/Forefathers/Printz.html Johan Printz] by Dr. Eric G. M. Törnqvist
* [http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/explorers/sitec53.htm Printzhof] The site and remains of the Printzhof
*The Kalmar Nyckel Foundation & Tall Ship Kalmar Nyckel. [http://www.kalmarnyckel.org/]
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