Frederick Robinson Koch ( ; August 26, 1933 – February 12, 2020)
was an American collector and
philanthropist, the eldest of the four sons born to American industrialist
Fred Chase Koch, founder of what is now
Koch Industries
Koch Industries, Inc. ( ) is an American privately held multinational conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas and is the second-largest privately held company in the United States, after Cargill. Its subsidiaries are involved in the ...
, and Mary Clementine (née Robinson) Koch.
Early years
Koch was born in Wichita, Kansas. His paternal grandfather,
Harry Koch, was a
Dutch immigrant, who founded the ''Quanah Tribune-Chief'' newspaper and was a founding shareholder of
Quanah, Acme & Pacific Railway. Among his maternal great-great-grandparents were
William Ingraham Kip
William Ingraham Kip (October 3, 1811 – April 7, 1893) was an American Protestant Episcopal bishop.
Early life
Kip was born in New York City, of Breton ancestry, the son of Leonard Kip and Maria (Ingraham) Kip.Memorial Biographies, 130 He g ...
, an Episcopal bishop;
William Burnet Kinney, a politician; and
Elizabeth Clementine Stedman
Elizabeth Clementine Dodge Stedman (1810–1889) was an American writer. She was the author of ''Felicita, a Metrical Romance'' (1855), ''Poems'' (1867), and '' Bianca Cappello, A Tragedy'' (1873).
Biography
She was born Elizabeth Clementine Do ...
, a writer.
Beginning in eighth grade, Koch attended a
boarding school called
Pembroke-Country Day School in
Kansas City, Missouri.
He attended high school at
Hackley School
Hackley School is a private college preparatory school located in Tarrytown, New York, and is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. Founded in 1899 by a wealthy philanthropist, Frances Hackley, Hackley was intended to be a Unitarian al ...
in
Tarrytown, New York
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North ...
.
Koch studied
humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
at
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
and graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
degree in 1955. His father and his three younger brothers,
Charles G. Koch and twins
David H. Koch
David Hamilton Koch ( ; May 3, 1940 – August 23, 2019) was an American businessman, political activist, philanthropist, and chemical engineer. In 1970, he joined the family business: Koch Industries, the second largest privately held c ...
and
William I. Koch, studied
chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...
at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
and pursued business careers. After college, Koch enlisted in the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
, serving in
Millington, Tennessee
Millington is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and is a part of the Memphis metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 10,176. Millington was granted the title "Flag City Tennessee" by the Tennessee Stat ...
and then on the
aircraft carrier USS ''Saratoga''. Upon his return to civilian life, Koch enrolled at the
Yale School of Drama
The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...
, where his focus was
playwriting
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
. He received a
Master of Fine Arts degree from the school in 1961.
Philanthropy
Through personal and foundation acquisitions, Koch assembled large and important collections of photographs, rare books, literary and musical manuscripts, and fine and decorative arts. Works of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries predominated in his collections.
Among his private collections is the archival estate of
George Platt Lynes and a vast archive of the works of society photographer
Jerome Zerbe
Jerome Zerbe (July 24, 1904, Euclid, Ohio – August 19, 1988) was an American photographer. He was one of the originators of a genre of photography that is now common: celebrity paparazzi. Zerbe was a pioneer in the 1930s of shooting photograph ...
.
The Frederick R. Koch Foundation, which he founded, is a major donor to the
Morgan Library & Museum and
Frick Collection in New York City and to the
Carnegie Museum of Art
The Carnegie Museum of Art, is an art museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was at what is now the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsbur ...
in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
.
Of particular note are The Frederick R. Koch Collections at the Harvard Theater Collection,
Houghton Library
Houghton Library, on the south side of Harvard Yard adjacent to Widener Library, is Harvard University's primary repository for rare books and manuscripts. It is part of the Harvard College Library, the library system of Harvard's Faculty of ...
at Harvard University, and at Yale University's
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts. Es ...
. Yale president
Richard C. Levin described the Koch collection as "one of the greatest collections to come to Yale since the year of its founding".
Starting in the 1980s, Koch bought, restored and maintained a number of historic properties in the United States and abroad. These properties include the Donahue house, a
Woolworth mansion in Manhattan; the
Habsburg hunting lodge
Schloss Blühnbach near
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
, Austria;
[ the Romanesque Villa Torre Clementina in Cap Martin, France; and Elm Court, a Tudor Gothic manse in ]Butler, Pennsylvania
Butler is a city and the county seat of Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located north of Pittsburgh and is part of the Greater Pittsburgh region. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 13,502.
History
Butler was n ...
. Koch financed the reconstruction of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theater in England from its 1879 remains, although his role as the project's patron was kept secret for years.[
In 1990, Koch bought Sutton Place near Guildford, Surrey, England. Sutton Place is the former residence of J. Paul Getty and the meeting place of Henry VIII and ]Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...
. Koch purchased the property from another reclusive art collector, Stanley J. Seeger
Stanley Joseph Seeger Jr. (28 May 1930 – 24 June 2011) was an American-born art collector. Seeger lived in Great Britain for the last three decades of his life.
Early life
Seeger was born to Helen Buchanan Seeger and Dr. Stanley J. Seeger in M ...
. He "redecorated the house and hung his art collection, but is said never to have spent a night under its roof before selling it for £32m" in 1999. Other sources say he operated it as the Sutton Place Foundation, open to the public for more than 25 years, and that he ultimately sold the property in 2005.[
Koch served for many years on the boards of directors of the ]Spoleto Festival
The ''Festival dei Due Mondi'' (Festival of the Two Worlds) is an annual summer music and opera festival held each June to early July in Spoleto, Italy, since its founding by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958. It features a vast array of conce ...
and The Royal Shakespeare Company. In 2010, ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' reported that Koch had "moved to Monaco, which has no income tax". Despite lavish philanthropy and millions spent on art acquisitions and property restoration, Koch was said to have a frugal streak. He reportedly "prefers taking the public bus in New York and typically flies commercial", according to ''Vanity Fair''.[
]
Legal battles
Frederick Koch and his younger brother Bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
had inherited stock in Koch Industries. In June 1983, after a bitter legal and boardroom battle, the stakes of Frederick and Bill were bought out for $1.1 billion and Charles Koch and David Koch became majority owners in the company.["Koch's wife granted order of restraint". Pittsburg (KS) ''Morning Sun'', July 21, 2000.] Legal disputes against Charles and David lasted roughly two decades. Frederick and Bill sided with J. Howard Marshall III, J. Howard Marshall II's eldest son, against Charles and David at one point, in order to take over the company. In 2001, Bill reached a settlement in a lawsuit where he had alleged that the company was taking oil from federal and Indian land; this settlement ended all litigation between the brothers.["Judge Clears Koch Brothers' Settlement Pact". ''Wall Street Journal'', May 29, 2001.] CBS News reported that Koch Industries settled for $25 million.
Death
Koch died of heart failure at his home in Manhattan on February 12, 2020, at the age of 86.
See also
*Koch family
The Koch family ( ) is an American family engaged in business, best known for their political activities and their control of Koch Industries, the 2nd largest privately owned company in the United States (with 2019 revenues of $115 billion). ...
References
External links
* Frederick R. Koch Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koch, Frederick R.
1933 births
2020 deaths
Frederick R.
American art collectors
American people of Dutch descent
Harvard College alumni
Yale School of Drama alumni
Hackley School alumni
Businesspeople from Kansas
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American philanthropists
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century philanthropists
Pembroke Hill School alumni