Which inventor is credited with introducing movable-type printing to Europe around 1440?

Johannes Gutenberg is credited with introducing movable-type printing to Europe around 1440.

Gutenberg was a German craftsman, inventor, and publisher from Mainz. His major achievement was combining reusable metal type, oil-based ink, a press adapted from wine and paper presses, and efficient typesetting into a practical system. Printing with movable type existed earlier in East Asia, but Gutenberg’s method transformed European book production.

His most famous project was the Gutenberg Bible, produced in Mainz around 1454–1455. About 180 copies are thought to have been made, on paper and on vellum. The Bible is admired for its consistent typography and high production quality.

A common mix-up is calling Gutenberg the inventor of printing itself. Printing techniques existed in China centuries earlier, including Bi Sheng’s ceramic movable type in the 11th century. Gutenberg’s importance lies in developing a commercially powerful European printing system that helped spread books, literacy, scientific ideas, and religious debate.