Lord Bertrand Russell died on this day, February 2, in 1970. Born in the UK in 1872, Russell was a polymath – philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic, political activist. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950 “in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought.”

See another portrait from this sitting.

See some other Nobel laureates who were photographed by Karsh.