Klaus Henrikinpoika, lord of Joensuu and Kankainen (c. 1445 – 1520) was in his time one of the most influential magnates in Finland (then a part of Sweden).
The only surviving son of squire Henrikki Ollinpoika, lord of Joensuu, and his wife (Silja) Laavuntytär of Nyynäinen, heiress of Kankainen manor, he was born in about 1445 or a bit earlier.
His forefathers were squire-class noblemen in Finland already in the 14th century (confirmation in 1407 from King Eric XIII) and their family crest depicts 'Drinking Horn'.
In 1511, the elderly lord Klaus of Joensuu (already in his sixties) was deemed suitable yet and sent to act as commander and administrator in Viipuri, the fief (margraviate) which was at the time in the transition under the Dowager Margravine Gunilla, widow of the recently deceased castellan and margrave Eerikki Tuurenpoika.
Vyborg Castle was effectively the regional capital of Eastern Finland, and more importantly, the cornerstone and key stronghold against the Russians.
Klaus' widow, lady Kirsti of Salmenkylä (b bef 1495; dc1553), lived long after her first husband, was Dowager of Haapaniemi where she usually resided, and in c1531 married anew.