The Russian community in the United Kingdom consists mainly of British citizens of Russian heritage as well with expatriates and migrants from Russia who reside in the United Kingdom. Russians have lived the United Kingdom since the 19th century.
Settlement and population numbers
The 2001 UK Census recorded 15,160 residents born in Russia. Estimates published by The Guardian suggest that the resident population of London born in Russia was over 150,000 in 2014. The rise in population has led to jocular nicknames for London such as "Londongrad" and "Moscow-on-the-Thames".
In London and the South East there are a number of Russian schools aimed at transmitting Russian language and culture to the children of Russian immigrant parents.
Many Russians also came to UK from the Baltic states, after they joined the EU in 2004. The total number of people of Russian descent is close to 300,000.
The Russian Embassy School in London is a Russian international school in the UK's capital city.
This is a list of Russian expatriates in the United Kingdom and Britons of Russian ancestry including Jews.
Arts and Literature
Ali Bastian, actress
Martin Benson, actor
Lady Colin Campbell, writer and biographer
Jill Craigie, film director, screenwriter, feminist
Marita Crawley, playwright
Theodore Dalrymple, author
Vernon Dobtcheff, actor
Amanda Donohoe, actress
Sergei Fyodorov, Russian icon painter
Georgette Heyer, novelist
Rachel Johnson, sister of Boris Johnson
Edward Judd, actor
Ben Kingsley, actor
Theodore Komisarjevsky, theatrical director and designer
Lilia Kopylova, renowned dancer
Jocelyn Lane, actress and model
Tania Mallet, actress, James Bond girl in Goldfinger
Richard Marner, actor
Dame Helen Mirren, actress. Winner of an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards
Warren Mitchell, actor
Sophia Myles, actress
Seva Novgorodsev, BBC Russian Service radio presenter
Sergei Pavlenko, portrait painter
Muriel Pavlow, actress
Ingrid Pitt, horror film actress
Stephen Poliakoff, playwright, director
Oleg Prokofiev, artist, sculptor, and poet
Oliver Reed, actor
Charlotte Ronson, fashion designer
George Sanders, actor
John Sergeant, journalist
Carolyn Seymour, actress
Dinah Sheridan, actress
Paul Sheriff, Academy Award-winning art director
Victoria Tennant, actress
Sir Peter Ustinov, actor. Winner of two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor, a BAFTA award, a Golden Globe, three Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award
Sabra Williams, actress
Michael Winner, film director
Christian Wolmar, author
Evgeny Lebedev, businessman
Vladimir Raitz, founder of the Horizon Holiday Group
Sir Stuart Rose, Chief Executive of Marks & Spencer
Vladimir Peniakoff, Lieutenant-Colonel of the British Army, Distinguished Service Order, Military Cross
Pavel Chichagov, Commander and an Admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy under Alexander I. The son of the son of Admiral Vasili Chichagov and his English wife.
Rudolf Abel - Soviet Colonel and Spy during the Cold War, born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne as Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher.
Carl Barat, musician, co-founder of the band The Libertines
Pete Doherty, musician, co-founder of the band The Libertines
Mick Jones, musician, co-founder of the band The Clash
Albert Coates, conductor and composer born in St Petersburg
Alina Ibragimova, violinist
Paul Kossoff, musician, member of the band Free. Father was of Russian-Jewish descent
Nina Rautio, Russian- born soprano and vocal teacher
Katie Melua, singer
Mark Ronson, music producer
Samantha Ronson, DJ
Gavin Rossdale, musician
Amy Winehouse, singer
Nick Clegg, Former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Susan Greenfield, Baroness Greenfield, member of the House of Lords, scientist, writer, and broadcaster
Boris Johnson, Foreign Secretary, Former Mayor of London
Jo Johnson, brother of Boris Johnson, Member of Parliament, and journalist
Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea, Anglo-Russian statesman and leader of the movement for Army Health and War Office reform after the Crimean War. His mother was the Russian noblewoman Countess Catherine Vorontsov who was daughter of the Russian diplomat to the United Kingdom Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov. The current Earl of Pembroke is a direct descendant.
Isaiah Berlin, renowned social and political theorist, and historian
Konstantin Novoselov, Nobel Prize-winning physicist
Andre Geim, Nobel Prize-winning physicist
Ronald Hutton, historian
Martyn Poliakoff, CBE, FRS chemist
Robert Skidelsky, economic historian
Alexandra Tolstoy, businesswoman, fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
Nikolai Tolstoy, historian
Sir John Vane, Nobel Prize-winning pharmacologist
Paul Vinogradoff, historian-medievalist
Nicholas Zernov, Orthodox theologian
Alexander Obolensky, international rugby union player
