John Francis Stanley Russell, 2nd Earl Russell (1865 - 1931) was Bertrand Russell's elder brother and grandson of former prime minister, John Russell, 1st Earl Russell. He was married three times, including Elizabeth von Arnim, who caricatured him in her novels.

His first wife was Mary Edith Scott, who married him in 1890, tried to divorce him (and lost) in 1891, sued for restoration of conjugal rights in 1894. He requested a judicial separation in 1895, but she appealed and it was overturned.

Russell married Marion Cooke Somerville in the United States, in 1900, and was convicted of bigamy in the House of Lords 18 July, 1901. He was sentenced to only three months in prison, on account of the "extreme torture" he had suffered in his first marriage. The first Countess Russell had already obtained a divorce, and he married Mrs. Somerville 31 October, 1901 - three days after it became absolute.

His second wife divorced him in 1915, and he married Elizabeth von Arnim the next year. They separated in 1919.

Russell was the first peer to join the Labour Party and was Labour's Leader in the House of Lords. He was Undersecretary of State for Transport and for India in Ramsay Macdonald's government. He supported his brother's pacifism, and was a close friend of George Santayana.

1865 births | 1931 deaths | Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom | UK Labour Party politicians