Jan Piwczyk, was the engraver who produced the Atatürk portrait used on the 100 Lira banknotes of the 5th Emission (4th serie), released into circulation in 1962.
The same portrait is also on the 500 Lira banknotes (the 3rd serie), issued in the same year..
The portrait, which was produced based on the photograph taken by Cemal Işıksel at the Atatürk Forest Farm in 1929.
This was the first portrait plate locally produced at the TCMB Banknote Printing House.
Jan Piwczyk was born in Poland in 1897. He worked in the Polish stamp printing houses in Warsaw. From 1943, he produced stamp engravings in Berlin, Germany. In the mid-1950s, he worked at the Giesecke & Devrient printing house based in Munich.
According to the official Turkish archival records, he worked in Turkey during the establishment of the Central Bank Banknote Printing House, at least between 1957 and 1964. He trained local engravers such as Selahattin Tuga.
Jan Piwczyk passed away in 1972.
His name is often mentioned among stamp engravers:
* Click here for other artists who contributed to the design of Turkish coins and banknotes of the Republic period.
banknote photos: TCMB Virtual Museum
