Johan de Witt
In spite of his immigrant background De la Court was able to penetrate the social elite of Holland. He became a close friend of Johan Eleman, who was a member of Leiden's governing council and a relative of Johan de Witt (1625-72), the de facto leader of the Dutch Republic between 1653 and 1672. In 1657 De la Court married Eleman's sister in law, Elisabeth Tollenaer, who died only one year later in childbirth. In 1660 De la Court's younger brother and business partner Johan died. Pieter was married again in 1661, this time to Catharina van der Voort, the sister of two wealthy Amsterdam merchants and, again, a relative of Johan de Witt.