Bertrand Russell was born on May 18, 1872 in the town of Ravencroft in Wales. His parents died when he was a small child and he was raised primarily by his grandmother. Russell studied mathematics and philosophy at Trinity College, Cambridge University.
Russell was one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century, exerting great influence in ethics, religion, and logic. Many of his ideas on sex, marriage, children, and war were quite radical for the time. Russell was convicted of anti-war activities twice, and served time in prison. He ran for parliament, unsuccessfully, several times and ran an experimental school. Russell received the Nobel Prize in literature in 1950.
In mathematics, Russell is best known for his seminal work on set theory and foundations. His great work, Principia Mathematica, written with Alfred North Whitehead was published from 1910 to 1912.