Ralph Russell
Professor Ralph Russell SI (Urdu: رالف رَسَل) (21 May 1918 – 14 September 2008) was a British scholar of Urdu literature and a Communist. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge. He taught Urdu and Urdu literature at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and also in universities in India and Pakistan. He wrote articles and essays in Urdu and English, and attended literary seminars and workshops on the subject of his specialization. Russell was born in Hammerton, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, and grew up in Loughton, Essex. For much of his  life he was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz in recognition of his services to Urdu language and literature by the Government of Pakistan. Loughton Town Council installed a blue plaque to Russell on his boyhood home at 6 Queen's Road in that town, which was inaugurated with a reception given by the present owners for family, friends and colleagues, on 15 July 2013. Books. Autobiography