William Knapp Thorn
William Knapp Thorn, Jr. was an American champion polo player and the grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. Also, he was a hunter and horse-rider. He was one of the best-known sportsmen in the United States and France.Biography
He was born in 1848 to Emily Almira Vanderbilt Thorn.Thorn received his LLB from Columbia Law School in 1870.
He participated in the 1886 International Polo Cup with teammates Foxhall Parker Keene and Thomas Hitchcock, Sr.
He lived in Pau where he contribute to the development of cars and motorsport in the region. He created the Automobile-club of Bearn which organised the first motor races in the southwest of France in 1899.
This race became the famous Pau Grand Prix which is still popular today.
He died in Pau, France on November 16, 1910.
