Héctor Barrantes

Héctor Barrantes Sansoni (1939–1990) was an Argentine polo player. He was the stepfather of Sarah, Duchess of York.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Barrantes and the second or maternal family name is Sansoni.
Héctor Barrantes Sansoni
Born1939
Argentina
Died1990 (aged 50–51)
Argentina
Resting placePeace Garden Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Argentina
OccupationPolo player
Spouse(s)Susan Barrantes
RelativesSarah, Duchess of York (stepdaughter)

Biography

Early life

He was a member of the patrician Figueroa family, and was born in 1939 in Argentina. He was the son of Martín Barrantes Figueroa y Arias and Clelia Josefina Sansoni Pais, both born in Salta, Argentina. The Figueroa family descended directly from Francisco de Toledo y Figueroa (10 July 1515 – 15 August 1582) who was an aristocrat and soldier of the Kingdom of Spain and the fifth Viceroy of Peru.[1][2]

Career

He started playing polo at the age of fifteen.[2] In 1967, he moved to England to play polo with Samuel Vestey, 3rd Baron Vestey in Stowell Park.[2][3] In 1983, he was barred from the international polo field for a year for a bout of anger.[4]

Héctor Barrantes enlisted in the Argentine Army during the Falklands War of 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom, but did not fight.[5]

Later, he bred polo ponies on his 1,000-acre (400 ha) ranch in Guaminí, 335 miles (540 km) southwest of Buenos Aires.[2] His polo pony called Luna, which he bred on his ranch, won the Lady Townley Cup in 1989 and 1990, ridden by Gonzalo Pieres.[6]

Personal life

His first wife died in a car crash.[2] In 1974, he started an affair with Susan Ferguson, the mother of Sarah Ferguson, who divorced her husband Major Ronald Ferguson and left her two daughters in England.[2][4][7] In 1975, they married in a civil ceremony in Argentina.[2] They resided on a polo ranch in Guaminí, Argentina.[1][2]

Death

He died of cancer in August 1990.[1][2] He was buried, initially, in the Peace Garden cemetery in Buenos Aires.[2] Later he was reinterred in a vault under his home and next to a polo field on his 'El Pucara' estate where, in 1998, his widow Susan was buried following her death.[8]

Honours

A major polo trophy in Argentina has been named in Barrantes's honour, the Copa Héctor Barrantes.[9]

References
  1. Hector Barrantes, 51; Stepfather of Royal Family's 'Fergie', The Los Angeles Times, August 12, 1990
  2. Hector Barrantes, Argentine polo player, Bangor Daily News, August 13, 1990
  3. Horace A. Laffaye, The Evolution of Polo, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2009, pp. 113; 226-227
  4. Jeannie Sakol, Caroline Latham, The Royals, Congdon & Weed, 1987, p. 21
  5. 'Argentine stepfather a dilemma', The Gainesville Sun, March 20, 1986
  6. Horace A. Laffaye, The Evolution of Polo, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2009, pp. 284
  7. Andrew Morton, Duchess: an intimate portrait of Sarah, Duchess of York, Contemporary Books, 1989, p. 26
  8. "Fergie mourns mum". BBC News. 22 September 1998. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  9. Article from Infoecos mentioning the Copa Héctor Barrantes
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