Johan Björnsson Printz

Johan Björnsson Printz (July 20, 1592 – May 3, 1663) was governor from 1643 until 1653 of the Swedish colony of New Sweden on the Delaware River in North America.

Printz entered the Swedish army in 1625 rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel under King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.

He was a very large man, reputably over 400 pounds, which earned him the nickname "Big Belly," from the native people, the Lenni Lenape tribe.

[3][4] Printz arranged amicable relations with English settlers, initiated trade connections with the Dutch in New Netherlands, and directed several commercial enterprises within New Sweden.

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 was Peter Stuyvesant, Director General of New Netherlands, and earlier on, his local representative Andries Hudde.

Printz also was an autocratic administrator and his growing quarrels with the settlers led several of them to petition to take their grievances directly to the Swedish government.

[5] In 1653 Hans Månsson and 21 others including Olof Persson Stille, Peter Minuit and Sven Gunnarsson signed a petition opposing his rule.