Pontus De la Gardie
Pontus De la Gardie, Freiherr von Ekholmen, (* 1520 in Russol, Languedoc, † November 5, 1585 in Narva River drowned ) was a Swedish army commander and governor of Livonia.
Pontus De la Gardie was born at Castle Russol in France and came from a Swedish noble family De la Gardie. He first fought under Brissac in Italy, then in 1557 at the Battle of Saint- Quentin in France and Scotland at the time of Mary Stuart. Later he went to Denmark and Sweden was in service since 1565. He conquered for Sweden, the Baltic provinces of Estonia and Ingria until 1581 in the fight against Russia.
Pontus married on February 4, 1580 in the castle of Vadstena Sofia Gyllenhielm, a natural daughter of King John III. from Sweden. She died giving birth to her third child.
Pontus de la Gardie and his wife are buried in St Mary's Cathedral.