Logan Pearsall Smith

Logan Pearsall Smith
Logan Pearsall Smith (2nd from the right) with Hannah Whitall Smith (his mother, seated), and order unknown: Lady Henry Somerset, Mary Berenson (his sister), Karin Stephen and Ray Strachey.
Born	(1865-10-18)18 October 1865 Millville, New Jersey
Died	2 March 1946(1946-03-02) (aged 80) London, England
Occupation	Essayist, critic, autobiographer
Citizenship	British
Alma mater	Haverford College, Harvard College, University of Berlin, Balliol College, Oxford
Subject	17th century divines
Relatives	Robert Pearsall Smith (father), Hannah Whitall Smith (mother) and sisters Alys Pearsall Smith and Mary Berenson

Logan Pearsall Smith (18 October 1865 – 2 March 1946) was an American-born British essayist and critic. Harvard and Oxford educated, he was known for his aphorisms and epigrams, and was an expert on 17th Century divines. His Words and Idioms made him an authority on correct English language usage. He may be best remembered for his autobiography, Unforgotten Years.

The denunciation of the young is a necessary part of the hygiene of older people, and greatly assists in the circulation of their blood.

Smith was born in Millville, New Jersey. He was the son of the prominent Quakers Robert Pearsall Smith and Hannah Whitall Smith and a descendant of James Logan, who was William Penn's secretary and the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania in the 18th century. His mother's family had become wealthy from its glass factories. He lived for a time as a boy in England. In his 1938 autobiography, Smith describes how in his youth he came to be a friend of Walt Whitman in the poet's latter years.

Smith's sister Alys was the first wife of philosopher Bertrand Russell. His sister Mary was married twice, first to the Irish barrister Benjamin Conn "Frank" Costelloe. Their two daughters were Ray Strachey and Karin Stephen, in-laws to Lytton Strachey and Virginia Woolf, respectively. Mary later married the art historian Bernard Berenson.

Smith attended The William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, Haverford College, Harvard College, and the University of Berlin. Smith later studied at Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1891.