Peter Arrell Browne Widener II

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Peter Arrell Browne Widener II (June 25, 1895 – April 20, 1948) was an American racehorse owner and breeder, art patron, and philanthropist. He inherited a large fortune from his father, Joseph E. Widener, a major figure in horse racing and a founder of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

He was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and grew up at Lynnewood Hall in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, spending winters in Palm Beach. He attended private schools in Massachusetts and spent a year at Harvard. In 1916 he gained notice for rescuing a local girl at Baileys Beach. He served in World War I in a medical unit in France, spoke French, and rose to first lieutenant after the war.

Back home, Widener bred German Shepherd dogs at Lynnewood Hall and then focused on Thoroughbred racing, owning horses in the United States and France and taking over Elmendorf Farm in Lexington, Kentucky.

His best-known horse was Polynesian, a home-bred winner of the 1945 Preakness Stakes and a sire of Native Dancer, a notable figure in racing history. The Widener family remained deeply involved in racing, with ties to Belmont Park and Hialeah Park; Peter became President of Hialeah Park in 1939.

In November 1924 he married Gertrude Peabody (née Douglas). They had two children, Peter A. B. Widener III and Ella Anne Widener-Wetherill. He was also the stepfather of Gertrude Widener, the daughter Gertrude had adopted from her first marriage. In 1940 he published an autobiography, Without Drums, with royalties benefiting the Ella Pancoast Widener Memorial Fund.

Peter A. B. Widener II died of rheumatic heart disease on April 20, 1948, at Lankenau Hospital in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, at age 52. He was buried at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. He left his estate to his family, with trust funds for his wife and daughter and his racing farm left to his son. After his death, his widow Gertrude continued racing and collecting art, primarily in Paris, until her death in 1970.