Johannes Oporinus

Printer
Johannes Oporinus was one of the most important printers of the 16th century who made a considerable contribution to this flourishing period of printing in Basel.

He was born in Basel and completed his academic training in Strasbourg and Basel. In his early 20s Oporinus worked as an assistant to physician Paracelsus, and after that as a teacher and professor of Latin and Greek at the University of Basel. At the same time he worked as a corrector in printing shops, where he realized that a printer could make more money than an academic. In 1542 he managed to open his own printing shop. Although his printing shop grew fast and was one of the biggest in Basel with six presses and a workforce of about 30 people, he did not became rich. He died deeply in debt, probably because he was concentrated on publishing good books rather than aiming for high profits.

His most famous publication was the first-ever printed edition of the Koran – in a Latin translation supplemented with a number of historical works, a kind of encyclopedia of Islam. He is also known for his editions of works by Matthias Flacius Illyricus, a Lutheran reformer from Istria.