Lorenzo the Elder

Lorenzo was an Italian banker and a member of the Medici family who founded the so-called Popolani branch of the family, also called the Junior line which established the dukedom.

As the younger brother of Cosimo de Medici the Elder, who brought the family business to its peak and headed the Senior line of the family, Lorenzo was his support both in business and in public matters during his lifetime. When Cosimo was arrested in 1433, Lorenzo tried to muster the army for his liberation, and followed him into the exile in Venice. He returned to Florence along with Cosimo one year later.

Lorenzo actively contributed to the family business, and in 1435 he was sent to Rome to supervise family banking affairs at the Papal court. As a member of the prominent Florentine family, he also held several public duties in the Florentine Republic, and served as an ambassador to Venice and to Pope Eugen IV.

From 1416 Lorenzo was in marriage with Ginevra Cavalcanti with whom he had two sons – Francesco and Pierfrancesco. The later became the originator of the Popolani line. Lorenzo died prior to Cosimo, in 1440, in the Villa of Careggi and was buried in the basilica of San Lorenzo.