Isaac Elzevir (11 March 1596, in Leiden – 8 October 1651, in Cologne), in Dutch Isaac Elsevier, was a Dutch publisher and printer who began printing with one of the earliest printing press in the city of Leyden in the year 1617. Although the House of Elzevir ceased publishing in 1712, the modern Dutch Elsevier company was founded in 1880 and took its name from the historic Dutch publishing house.