Denis Adam was born in Berlin to an upper-middle-class secular Jewish family, the youngest child of Lilli and Fritz Adam, a former Prussian cavalry officer who had served with the Zieten Hussars.
22 Facts About Denis Adam
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Denis Adam had been established in 1863 by Saul Adam.
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The rest of the Adam family stayed in Germany as Denis's father felt that the Nazi's were only a temporary aberration and they would wait it out.
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The family were declared refugees on their arrival to England and identified as "friendly aliens" with the exception of Denis Adam, who was too young to be classified.
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Denis Adam's father struggled with his change in status and starting over in a new country.
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Denis Adam had been too young to be screened when he had arrived in the country and, as a result, soon after his 16th birthday was arrested and spent a month incarcerated on the Isle of Man.
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When he turned 17, Denis Adam volunteered with his mother's permission to join the Royal Air Force.
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In 1942, Denis Adam was sent to Rhodesia for pilot training.
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Denis Adam had served with a number of New Zealanders, who made a favourable impression on him.
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Denis Adam indulged his love of flying by joining the Wellington Aero Club where he flew Tiger Moths and later was a foundation member of the Upper Valley Gliding Club.
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Denis Adam became involved in Wellington in the art and music scene.
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At the age of 29, Denis Adam met at the Majestic Cabaret Verna Finlayson; the couple later married during a visit to Denis Adam's family in London in 1953.
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Denis Adam had identified an opportunity in the insurance industry but lacked the necessary capital.
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Denis Adam quickly discovered that some staff and some customers had been stealing from the business and that the petrol delivery drivers were delivering less than they claimed on the invoice.
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Denis Adam put a stop to these practices and within two to three months the business was profitable and eventually the most profitable Atlantic Union service station in the region.
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The second Denis Adam was his older brother Peter, who had no connection with the firm but was a director of a merchant bank in England, as well as an underwriter at Lloyd's of London, at a time when a London connection gave some commercial respectability.
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Denis Adam was one of the first to offer professional indemnity insurance in New Zealand.
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Denis Adam's brokerage proved very successful, and he came to dominate the insurance brokerage sector.
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In 2017, the Denis Adam Foundation made a substantial gift towards a new centre of musical, cultural and educational excellence being planned for Wellington's Civic Square.
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Denis Adam died on 17 October 2018, aged 94, in Wellington, New Zealand, following a long illness.
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In 2001, Denis Adam was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Literature degree by Victoria University of Wellington.
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At the time of his death, Denis Adam was trustee emeritus of the New Zealand Portrait Gallery.