Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie | |
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Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie. Engraving after Anselm van Hulle
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Lord High Treasurer of Sweden | |
In office 1652–1660 |
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Preceded by | Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna |
Succeeded by | Gustaf Bonde |
Lord High Chancellor of Sweden | |
In office 1660–1680 |
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Preceded by | Erik Oxenstierna |
Succeeded by | None – office abolished (until 1792) |
Lord High Steward of Sweden | |
In office 1680–1684 |
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Preceded by | Per Brahe the Younger |
Succeeded by | None – office abolished (until 1787) |
Governor-General of Livonia | |
In office 1649–1651 |
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Preceded by | Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna |
Succeeded by | Gustav Horn |
In office 1655–1657 |
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Preceded by | Gustav Horn |
Succeeded by | Axel Lillie (in 1661) |
Personal details | |
Born |
Reval, Swedish Estonia |
October 15, 1622
Died | April 26, 1686 Venngarn Castle, Sigtuna, Sweden |
(aged 63)
Spouse(s) | Maria Eufrosyne of Zweibrücken |
Children |
Gustaf Adolf De la Gardie, Catharina Charlotta De la Gardie, Hedvig Ebba De la Gardie |
Residence |
Makalös Palace, Venngarn Castle Läckö Castle |
Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie (15 October 1622 – 26 April 1686) was a Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three of the five offices counted as the Great Officers of the Realm, namely Lord High Treasurer, Lord High Chancellor and Lord High Steward. He also served as Governor-General in the Swedish dominion of Livonia.
Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie was born on 15 October 1622. The place of his birth was Reval (present-day Tallinn), Estonia, which at the time was a Swedish dominion where Magnus Gabriel's father Jacob De la Gardie served as governor. Jacob De la Gardie, Count of Läckö, was a prominent military commander who served as Lord High Constable of Sweden from 1620 until his death in 1652. Father of Jacob, and grandfather of Magnus Gabriel, was Baron Pontus De la Gardie, a French mercenary who had been in Danish service but made a career in Sweden after having been captured by Swedish troops in 1565. Pontus married Sofia Gyllenhielm, the daughter of King John III, in 1580.
Magnus Gabriel's mother was Ebba Brahe, daughter of Lord High Steward Magnus Brahe and Brita Leijonhufvud. Ebba had a relationship with young King Gustavus Adolphus, probably during the years 1613–1615. Gustavus's mother, Christina of Holstein-Gottorp, ruined her son's wish to marry Ebba Brahe, who in 1618 instead married Jacob De la Gardie. Ebba and Jacob had 14 children, of whom seven lived to maturity. These seven were Magnus Gabriel, Maria Sofia, Jacob Casimir, Pontus Frederick, Christina Catharina, Axel Julius and Ebba Margaretha.