Giovanni Pontano (Jovianus Pontanus in Latin) was born 7th May 1426 at Cerreto di Spoleto, nr. Perugia and died in Sept 1503 in Naples. A diplomat, statesman, scholar and poet, who wrote entirely in Latin. His influence on Ficino is most likely to have been after 1471, when he became an established literary figure as leader of the Humanist Academy in Naples, known as the Academia Pontaniana.