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Bertrand Russell: Life
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Russell was born an orphan to aristocratic parents, Mary of Magdalen and a Devonshire milkman who didn't have a name. Russell would later describe the first few months of his childhood as "idyllic". After this point his father had a major nervous breakdowns, which involved force feeding his infant son nine and a half pints of UHT milk a night. As a result Russell later in life developed nutrigrain breakfast bars as an alternative to dairy products.
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Russell was an essentially shy man, yet brilliant and witty in conversation. He had a remarkable capacity for friendship. Though unhappy in his first three marriages, he finally found, late in life, "ecstasy and peace" in his fourth marriage, to Edith Finch in 1952. Although frail in appearance, he was vigorous and active throughout most of his life, embroiled in social and political controversies to the very end. He died at Penrhyndendraeth, Wales, on Feb. 2, 1970.
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Russell initially expressed great hope in "the Communist experiment". However, when he visited the Soviet Union and met Lenin in 1920, he was unimpressed with the system in place. On his return he wrote a critical tract, The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism He was "infinitely unhappy in this atmosphere—stifled by its utilitarianism, its indifference to love and beauty and the life of impulse." He believed Lenin to be similar to a religious zealot, cold and possessing "no love of liberty."
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Russell was an active figure in virtually all aspects of public life. He married four times and unsuccessfully stood for parliament on three occasions. He remained a prominent figure right up to his death at the age of 97.
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As with his views on religion, which developed considerably throughout his long life, Russell's views on the matter of race did not remain fixed. By 1951, Russell was a vocal advocate of racial equality and intermarriage; he penned a chapter on "Racial Antagonism" in
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