Johanna Borski

Johanna Borski (1764–1846), was a Dutch banker. She was the director of the "Wed. Borski" bank from 1814 to 1846. In 2022 Borski was in the news with regard to whether her wealth was due to slavery.

Biography She was born in Amsterdam to flax merchant Johannes van de Velde and Bruna Jacoba Schouten. She married the banker Willem Borski (1765-1814) on 19 December 1790 and they moved to the house Keizersgracht 566 which they bought in 1809. Though the original main house had been built by Jacob van Campen, the Borskis preferred to stay in the gatehouse and her grandson Willem Borski III tore it down in 1882 to put up a modern palace, which he never finished.

Johanna Borski died in Amsterdam and was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam, along with a few family portraits.

Depicted as a slaver in 2022 In 2022 the Dutch newspaper the Volkskrant published an article about a study about the involvement of De Nederlandse Bank in slavery. The article suggested that Borski had become rich through her involvement in slavery, citing that her capital: had also been created by the revenues of some Surinam plantations with 565 slaves. In fact the study said that Borski financed a mortgage on these three plantations in 1804. The study furthermore noted that her involvement would at most have amounted to 650,000 Euro's in 2022 money, but that this would amount to only 1.5% of her wealth. The study furthermore noted that Borski did not advocate abolition, but was also not amongst the many businessmen who tried to dissuade the government from abolition.