Laurens Janszoon Coster

Laurens Janszoon Coster (b. ca. 1370, Haarlem, The Netherlands - d. unknown) was one of the early European printers. Some claim he was the first European to invent movable type, although the little evidence there is about this matter seems to show that Johann Gutenberg preceded him.

His last name, Coster, is sometimes written as Koster. The middle name, meaning 'son of Jan', is sometimes abbreviated to 'Jansz.'