Giovanni Di Bicci De' Medici

Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (c. 1360 – February 20/28, 1429) was an Italian banker, a member of Medici family of Florence, and the founder of the Medici Bank. While other family members, such as Chiarissimo di Giambuono de' Medici, who served in the Signoria in 1201, and Salvestro de' Medici, who was implicated in the Ciompi Revolt of 1378, are historically significant, Giovanni's founding of the family bank truly began the family's rise to power in Florence. He was the father of Cosimo de' Medici (Pater Patriae), and great-grandfather of Lorenzo de Medici (the Magnificent).