Oliger Paulli

Oliger Paulli was a successful Danish merchant who proclaimed himself a new messiah and began to propagate his religious ideas across Europe.

Born at Copenhagen into a prominent family of a royal physician, Oliger studied trade before he entered the business world. He started his career as a bookkeeper for the West Indies and Danish West India Company in Copenhagen. In 1680 he became engaged in slave trade, and trading in West Indies and on the coast of Guinea he succeeded to make a large fortune. The wealth enabled him all sorts of extravagance and lavish life by which he was known.

However, in 1694 Oliger became all of a sudden extremely religious and intrusive. He proclaimed his intention of establishing a new Jewish kingdom in Palestine as a new messiah and king of the Jews. He left his wife and six children and began propagate his ideas across Europe. In Amsterdam he began publishing religious tracts and was eventually arrested in 1701 for ridiculing Christianity in one of his books. Due to his family connections, he was released the following year but under the condition to stay away from Holland.

After his teaching was not well accepted either in Germany, he returned to Denmark in 1706.