John Eleuthère du Pont
John Eleuthère du Pont was bornon 22 November 1938 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., American, is Philanthropist. John Eleuthère du Pont was someone who can’t be easily categorized. The heir to the Du Pont family, one of the members of the Forbes 400 Richest Americans, Du Pont is more famously known for his philanthropy and sports enthusiasm. He was a self-styled wrestling coach and the founder of the wrestling academy at the Foxcatcher Farm. He supported the pentathlon and amateur sports in the US and sponsored the USA wrestling. Apart from being a sports enthusiast, he had expertise in ornithology, philately, Conchology and had published books in these areas of learning. He was also the founder and director of the Delaware Museum of Natural History. His eccentric behavior started catching eyes, around the time when Du Pont turned 60. He became increasingly disruptive and paranoid, which led to him murdering Dave Schultz, an Olympic gold medalist freestyle wrestler. He shot Schultz at the driveway of the latter’s residence, inside du Pont’s estate. The court declared him as not insane and the verdict was ‘guilty but mentally ill’. Du Pont was sentenced to prison for 13-30 years. He was 72 years of age when he died, inside the prison. His life is portrayed in the 2014 film ‘Foxcatcher’.
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On December 9, 2010, du Pont died from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
In December 1988, a lawsuit was filed against him which claimed that he had made inappropriate sexual advances towards Andre Metzger, the assistant coach of his Villanova wrestling program
Apart from the Delaware Museum of Natural History, du Pond had also helped in the funding of a basketball arena (The Pavillion) at the Villanova University which was opened in 1986
On September 3, 1983, du Pont married Gale Wenl, a 29 year old occupational therapist
In 1973, he received his PhD degree in natural science from Villanova University
John du Pont is the author of 3 books on Ornithology: ‘Philippine Birds’ (19710, ‘South Pacific Birds’ (1976) and ‘Living Volutes’
In 1957, du Pont graduated from Haverford School and in 1965, he graduated from the University of Miami
In 1941, when John was two years of age, his parents got divorced
Born on November 22, 1938 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, John Eleuthère du Pont was the son of William du Pont Jr
