Sheridan William Robin Russell (23 March 1900 – 9 April 1991) was a

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, and patron of the arts. He was Head Almoner at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and founded the Paintings in Hospitals charity. He was the younger son of the professor of singing and the San Carlo and later Boston Opera director Henry Russell and his wife, Nina (). Russell was partially of Jewish descent through his parents and of Spanish and Portuguese descent through his mother. He appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme '' Desert Island Discs'' on 4 April 1970. Russell was known as Britain's first male almoner. Russell did not speak until he was three years old. At five years of age, he began to learn the cello. As a child in Paris, he was frequently taken to lunch with

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

. It was Debussy who diagnosed Russell as being partially deaf. During World War II, Russell worked for British Intelligence in Italy. He married the social worker and university teacher Katherine Russell on 1 June 1957. Russell died at his home on 9 April 1991 and a book on him ''Sheridan's Story'' was published privately by his wife in 1993 and all 1800 copies were sold.

References

1900 births Place of birth missing 1991 deaths Place of death missing Almoners British cellists 20th-century British medical doctors 20th-century British musicians 20th-century cellists British people of Jewish descent British people of Spanish descent British people of Portuguese descent {{UK-med-bio-stub