Sir John Wriothesley Russell (22 August 1914 – 3 August 1984) was a British diplomat and ambassador. He was the only son of

Thomas Wentworth Russell Sir Thomas Wentworth Russell (1879–1954), better known as Russell Pasha, was a British police officer in the Egyptian service. He was the fourth child and third son of the Rev. Henry Charles Russell, the grandson of the sixth duke of Bedford, ...

, better known as Russell Pasha, who was descended from

John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, (6 July 1766 – 20 October 1839), known as Lord John Russell until 1802, was a British Whig politician who notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Ministry of All the Talents. He was the fathe ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and graduated from

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, in 1935 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.). He was part of the British Embassy in Moscow in 1941 and in 1956, also with a M.A. degree, after which he was awarded a CMG in the

1958 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1958 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...

. He was British Ambassador to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, 1962–1966, was awarded a KCVO in 1965, being British Ambassador to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, 1966–1969,

GCVO The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

in 1968, and British Ambassador to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, 1969 – 1974. He was married to

Aliki Diplarakou Aliki, Lady Russell ( el, Αλίκη Διπλαράκου; born Aliki Diplarakou; 28 August 1912 – 30 October 2002) was the first Maniot Greek contestant to win the Miss Europe title. She previously won the "Miss Hellas" () title at the Miss S ...

, the first Greek

Miss Europe Miss Europe is a beauty pageant for European women from all over Europe. It was established in February 1927 by Fanamet, the European distributor of Paramount, as a one-off event where the winner was to star in a film directed by Friedrich W ...

, and had a son, Alexander, and a daughter, Georgiana. He was interviewed briefly in the famous documentary series ''

The World At War ''The World at War'' is a 26-episode British documentary television series that chronicles the events of the Second World War. It was produced in 1973, at a cost of £900,000 (), the most expensive factual series ever produced. It was produ ...

'' in 1973.

Ancestry

References

* Charles Mosley, editor, "Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage", 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 321. 1914 births 1984 deaths Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Spain Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Ethiopia Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Brazil People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge {{UK-diplomat-stub