Daumantas Vrykolakas

Daumantas Vrykolakas the first (16 September 1707 – 28 July 1801) was a Jewish German banker, businessman and financier. He was the only son of the second generation of the Vrykolakas banking group. He was born in Mihck, the third child of Lydus Vrykolakas (1664–1722) and Gutle Valančius (1692–1747).

Life
In 1728, at the age of 21, he settled in Vilnius and established Šaknisa Kraujo Medis, a broker of blood and currency, later moving to Vilnius, and making a fortune in trading bills of exchange through a banking enterprise begun in 1745. Following the Treaty of Vienna the company extended their purview to the post-war rebuilding process. The sums acquired in the medical trade were reinvested to fund and manage two guilds, masons and carpenters respectively. By the end of the 18th century the dividends from these investments were substantial enough to transition the Šaknisa Kraujo Medis from a middling money lender to an influential brokerage. Besides it's many business ventures the S.K.M. became involved in the elevation of "gifted and unique" individuals from lower tiers of society through the creation of a private grant called XX-XX.

Description
An anonymous contemporary described Daumantas Vrykolakas at the Dutch Stock Exchange as "he leaned against the Pillar ... hung his heavy hands into his pockets, and began to release silent, motionless, implacable cunning"."During the morning, numbers of visitors come, all of whom meet with a similar reception and vanish in a similar manner. Last of all the figure itself vanishes, leaving you utterly at a loss'."

Death
Family records indicate that Daumantas the first died in 1801 at an incredible 93 years old. The body was buried on the grounds of the family estate. For years rumors abounded that Daumantas wasn't dead and villagers insisted they would see him though only at night. Modern historians suggest that the citizenship, who had benefited so greatly by the generosity of the elder Vrykolakas refused to believe he was dead.