Arthur Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill

Arthur Oliver Villiers Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill , GCSI , GCIE (born February 19, 1869 , Rome , Italy , † July 7, 1935 ) was an English nobleman and diplomat . His international fame is linked to his position as a founding member of the International Olympic Committee .

Russell was born in Rome in the Palazzo Chigi , which is now the official residence of the Italian Prime Minister. He was the son of Sir Odo Russell , at the time the unofficial representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to the Vatican . Russell received his education at Eton College and at Oxford University , where he graduated in 1892 with a Bachelor of Arts .

Russell was an active athlete when he was a student. In particular, he excelled as a rower and took part as such in numerous races of various college teams, of which the Boat Race between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge is arguably the most famous.

Russell's connection to Pierre de Coubertin , the founder of the modern Olympic Games , is obscure. Coubertin tried to spread the Olympic movement over the world through high-ranking personalities from as many different nations as possible. Russell was an aspiring and sporty contemporary who was appointed private secretary to Colonial Minister Joseph Chamberlain in 1895 . In July 1894, Coubertin published the list of the first members to represent the IOC. Also on that list was Russell, the title that had held the title of Baron Ampthill since August 25, 1884 , after his father died.

Coubertin, who attached great importance to the rank and reputation of the members he had chosen, would undoubtedly have seen in Russell a suitable person for his purposes. In retrospect, however, Coubertin expressed disappointment in his two British representatives in the IOC, Arthur Russell and Charles Herbert . In 1897 Coubertin appointed Robert Stuart de Courcy Lafan to the IOC for the United Kingdom. Russell, on the other hand, left in 1898 as the third of 13 founding members after Mario Adinolfo Lucchesi-Palli and Demetrius Vikelas .

Russell's political and diplomatic career was unaffected by this resignation. In 1900 he was appointed governor of Madras . In 1904 he was Governor General and Viceroy of India for a short time . He took an active part in the First World War , then held a number of honorary offices and was a holder of high-ranking orders of the British Empire .

In addition, Lord Ampthill was a committed magician who became a member of The Magic Circle in 1927 . From 1931 to 1935 he was its president.

literature

John Booth : England's Magic Circle. In: The Linking Ring. Volume 43, No. 2, February 1963, page 44.
Edwin Alfred Dawes , Michael Bailey : Circle Without End The Magic Circle 1905-2005. 2005, page 15.

Web links

Arthur Oliver Villiers Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill on thepeerage.com , accessed August 23, 2015.

References and comments

^ ^A ^b Arthur Oliver Villiers Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill on thepeerage.com , accessed August 23, 2015.
↑ The Wizard , Volume 4, No. 47, May 1951, p. 381

predecessor	Office	successor
George Nathaniel Curzon	Viceroy of India 1904	George Nathaniel Curzon
Odo Russell	Baron Ampthill 1884-1935	John Russell

personal data
SURNAME	Russell, Arthur, 2nd Baron Ampthill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Ampthill, 2nd Baron
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British peer and diplomat, founding member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
DATE OF BIRTH	February 19, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH	Rome , Italy
DATE OF DEATH	July 7, 1935

[Datenabweichung-1] A ^b Arthur Oliver Villiers Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill on thepeerage.com , accessed August 23, 2015.

[2] The Wizard , Volume 4, No. 47, May 1951, p. 381