Henryk de Kwiatkowski

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Henryk Richard de Kwiatkowski (February 22, 1924 – March 17, 2003) was a Polish-born engineer, businessman, and racehorse owner who built a fortune in North America and left a lasting mark on horse racing with Calumet Farm.

Early life
He was born in Poznań, Poland. At age 15 he was captured by the Russian Army and sent to a Siberian labor camp. He escaped, traveled through Iran to South Africa, and in March 1943 boarded the Empress of Canada to England. The ship was torpedoed, but he survived and reached Britain, where he joined the Royal Air Force, serving until 1947.

Career in engineering and business
After the war, he studied engineering and eventually moved to Canada in 1952 to work for Pratt & Whitney in Montreal. In 1957 he moved to the United States and started Kwiatkowski Aircraft Ltd. and Intercontinental Aircraft Ltd. in New York, making his fortune by leasing and brokering used airplanes.

Property, art, and polo
In 1967 he bought a home in Lyford Cay, Bahamas, and also owned an apartment in Manhattan and an 80-acre estate, Conyers Farm, in Greenwich, Connecticut. He collected Impressionist art, with works by Gauguin, Braque, and Monet. He also played polo, running Kennelot Stables in Greenwich and playing at Palm Beach Polo Club in Florida, and was among the first foreign members of the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club.

Horse racing and Calumet Farm
De Kwiatkowski’s involvement in horse racing began in 1977, and he built Kennelot Stables into a large operation with more than 60 horses at times. He bought the stallion Danzig, who became one of North America’s most successful sires. His notable horses included Conquistador Cielo, the Belmont Stakes winner and 1982 Horse of the Year, along with Stephan’s Odyssey and Danzig Connection.

Calumet Farm
In 1992, during a liquidation auction, he purchased the famous Calumet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, paying for the main property and additional land, and acquiring the Calumet name. Churchill Downs later said that he saved Calumet Farm, a contribution the industry respects.

Personal life and legacy
He was married twice, to Lynne Burke Sawdon and later Barbara Tanner Allen, and had seven children. He died on March 17, 2003, at his Lyford Cay home in the Bahamas. Henryk de Kwiatkowski is remembered for his impact on Thoroughbred racing and for helping preserve Calumet Farm.