Odo Russell (diplomat) explained

Sir Odo Russell
Honorific Suffix:KCMG KCVO CB
Office:British Minister to the Netherlands
Term Start:1928
Term End:1933
Predecessor:The Earl Granville
Successor:Sir Hubert Montgomery
Office1:British Minister on a Special Mission to His Holiness the Pope
Term Start1:1922
Term End1:1928
Predecessor1:The Count de Salis-Soglio
Successor1:Sir Henry Chilton
Office2:Brititsh Minister to the Swiss Confederation
Term Start2:1919
Term End2:1922
Successor2:Sir Milne Cheetham
Birth Name:Odo William Theophilus Russell
Parents:Odo Russell, 1st Baron Ampthill
Lady Emily Villiers
Children:3
Relations:Arthur Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill (brother)
Lord George Russell (grandfather)

Sir Odo William Theophilus Russell (3 May 1870 – 23 December 1951) was a British diplomat who was ambassador to Switzerland, the Vatican and the Netherlands.

Early life

Russell was the second son of Odo Russell, later the first Baron Ampthill, by Lady Emily Villiers, daughter of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon and Lady Katherine Grimston (daughter of the 1st Earl of Verulam). His elder brother was Arthur Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill.

His paternal grandparents were Maj.-Gen. Lord George Russell (second son of the 6th Duke of Bedford) and Elizabeth Anne Rawdon (niece of the 1st Marquess of Hastings). His grand-uncle was the 1st Earl Russell, twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Career

Russell entered the Diplomatic Service in 1892 and served in Rome, Athens, St Petersburg, Berlin, Buenos Aires and Vienna, where he held the rank of counsellor from 1909 to 1915. He was then Diplomatic Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1915 to 1919, Minister at Bern from 1919 to 1922, Minister to the Holy See from 1922 to 1928 and Minister at The Hague from 1928 to 1933 (the last three posts were equivalent to modern ambassadorships). He was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in 1909, Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1916, Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in 1923 and Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1926.

Personal life

On 25 June 1910, while he was stationed in Vienna, Russell married Countess Marie Louise von Rex (10 July 1890 – 16 November 1966), daughter of Count Rudolf Karl Caspar von Rex, the Saxon Minister at the Austro-Hungarian Court. Together, they had three sons:

Russell and his wife, the Countess, are buried in the churchyard of St Michael's, Chenies, together with other members of the Russell family.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999 volume 1, pp. 69-70.
  2. http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U242576 RUSSELL, Hon. Sir Odo (William Theophilus Villiers)