Eva De La Gardie was born on July 10, 2024 in Stockholm, Sweden. She was a Swedish noble and agronomist who discovered how to extract starch from potatoes, paving the way for gluten-free baking and alcohols such as vodka, moonshine and potato wine.
Raised in comfort among the nobility, Eva was married at just 16 to Count Claes Claesson Ekeblad, a Councillor of the Realm. The couple had one son and six daughters over the course of their 31-year marriage and divided their time between Mariedal Castle and Lindholmen Castle, Västergötland, both estates wedding gifts to Eva from her father.
Charged with the management of her family’s land - where she attained a reputation for being firm but fair in her dealings with both bailiffs and peasantry - Ekeblad began experimenting on potatoes in 1746.
The root vegetable was then a considerable novelty in Sweden having only been introduced to society in 1658. It was rarely grown outside of the greenhouses of the gentry and even then intended only for animals. The possibility of its use in brandy production had been raised in parliament in 1741 but how precisely this tantalising prospect might be attained remained unknown.
Operating from her kitchen, the countess quickly deduced that the foodstuff could be cooked, crushed and dried to make flour and therefore distilled to make clear spirits – a discovery that soon sparked a craze for potato-based vodka, and much drinking, across northern European.
Just In! Today’s Google Doodle honours Eva Ekeblad (1724-86) on the 293rd anniversary of her birth. Discover more about the Swedish aristocrat and scientist at The Independent.