Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell was born at Ravenscroft, a country house in Trellech, Monmouthshire, on the 18th of May 1872. His father died of bronchitis in January 1876 after a long period of depression. His mother and sister Rachel had both succumbed to diphtheria just two years prior. The young boy found himself under the care of his paternal grandparents who lived at Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park. His grandfather, former Prime Minister Earl Russell, died in 1878 while sitting in a wheelchair. He remembered this old man as kind despite his physical limitations. The Countess Russell became the central family figure for the rest of Bertrand's childhood and youth. She held progressive views on social justice yet maintained religious conservatism that clashed with her late son-in-law's wishes.
Russell graduated from Trinity College Cambridge in 1893 as seventh Wrangler in mathematics. He began studying the foundations of geometry in 1897 with An Essay on the Foundations of Geometry. Giuseppe Peano impressed him during the first International Congress of Philosophy in Paris in 1900. This encounter led Russell to discover what he called Russell's paradox within set theory. He published The Principles of Mathematics in 1903 advancing a thesis of logicism. The three-volume Principia Mathematica appeared between 1910 and 1913 alongside Alfred North Whitehead. These works made Russell world-famous in his field by attempting to reduce all mathematics to logic. He received election to the Royal Society in 1908 after years of dedicated study.
During World War I Russell engaged in active pacifist activities when few others would. His conviction under the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 resulted in dismissal from Trinity College in 1916. He refused to pay a fine of £100 hoping instead to be sent to prison. Books were sold at auction to raise the money though friends bought them back for him. A later conviction for publicly lecturing against inviting the United States to enter the war led to six months imprisonment in Brixton Prison in 1918. While reading Strachey's Eminent Victorians chapter about Gordon he laughed out loud in his cell prompting intervention from a warder who reminded him that prison was punishment. He was reinstated to Trinity in 1919 before resigning voluntarily in January 1920 due to personal turmoil.
Russell traveled to Soviet Russia as part of an official delegation in August 1920 investigating effects of the Russian Revolution. He met Vladimir Lenin and found him disappointing with an impish cruelty resembling an opinionated professor. The experience destroyed his previous tentative support for the revolution leading to publication of The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism. During the 1930s he chaired the India League from 1932 to 1939 supporting Indian independence. In 1943 he adopted relative political pacifism stating war might be the lesser of two evils under extreme circumstances. He became an outspoken proponent of nuclear disarmament after World War II ending his earlier support for American global hegemony using nuclear weapons. Russell joined the Congress for Cultural Freedom until resigning in 1956 over its CIA funding.
Russell married Alys Pearsall Smith on the 13th of December 1894 at age 22 though their marriage began falling apart by 1901. They finally divorced in 1921 enabling him to remarry Dora Winifred Black who was six months pregnant when they returned to England. Their union produced two children before dissolving in 1935 following affairs with other women including Lady Ottoline Morrell. Patricia Helen Spence became his third wife in 1936 producing one son Conrad Sebastian Robert Russell. This marriage ended in divorce in 1952 leading to his fourth wedding with Edith Finch on the 15th of December that same year. Edith remained with him until his death while their relationship proved happy and close compared to previous unions. His eldest son John suffered from mental illness creating ongoing disputes between Russell and former wife Dora.
In 1947 Russell described himself as an agnostic or atheist finding it difficult to determine which term to adopt. He maintained religion was little more than superstition largely harmful despite any positive effects. For the advancement of science he advocated Alfred Henry Lloyd's concept of The Will to Doubt recognizing all human knowledge is at most a best guess. He wrote that thought is not free if profession of certain opinions makes it impossible to make a living. In 1957 he stated freethinkers must be free of tradition force and tyranny of own passions. His final written document read aloud in Cairo three days after his death condemned Israel as aggressive imperialist power wishing to consolidate what taken by violence.
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Common questions
When was Bertrand Russell born and where did he grow up?
Bertrand Arthur William Russell was born on the 18th of May 1872 at Ravenscroft in Trellech, Monmouthshire. He grew up under the care of his paternal grandparents who lived at Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park after his parents died.
What major mathematical works did Bertrand Russell publish with Alfred North Whitehead?
Bertrand Russell published The Principles of Mathematics in 1903 and co-authored the three-volume Principia Mathematica between 1910 and 1913 with Alfred North Whitehead. These works attempted to reduce all mathematics to logic and made him world-famous in his field.
Why did Bertrand Russell go to prison during World War I?
Bertrand Russell went to prison for six months in Brixton Prison in 1918 because he publicly lectured against inviting the United States to enter the war. He had previously been dismissed from Trinity College in 1916 due to his conviction under the Defence of the Realm Act 1914.
How many times did Bertrand Russell marry and when did he die?
Bertrand Russell married four times starting with Alys Pearsall Smith on the 13th of December 1894 and ending with Edith Finch on the 15th of December 1952. He died on the 2nd of May 1970 after writing a final document condemning Israel as an aggressive imperialist power.