Jürgen Dethloff

Jürgen Dethloff (12 May 1924 in Stettin – 31 December 2002) was a German inventor and engineer.

Together with German inventor Helmut Gröttrup he invented the smart card (chip card).

A successor of the original chip is now used in tens of millions of credit cards.

Dethloff and Gröttrup filed an application for a patent on 13 Sep 1969.

However, the patent was only granted on 1 April 1982.