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Frank Plumpton Ramsey (/ˈræmzi/; ) was a British philosopher, mathematician, and economist who made major contributions to all three fields before his death at the age of 26. He was a close friend of Ludwig Wittgenstein and, as an undergraduate, translated Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus into English. He was also influential in persuading Wittgenstein to return to philosophy and Cambridge. Like Wittgenstein, he was a member of the Cambridge Apostles, the secret intellectual society, from 1921.
Son of Arthur Stanley Ramsey (a mathematician, Tutor, Bursar and President of Magdalene College) and Mary Agnes Stanley (1875–1927).
He was the eldest of two brothers and two sisters, and his brother Michael Ramsey, later became Archbishop of Canterbury.
Educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Cambridge where he studied mathematics becoming Senior Wrangler.
Was a student of John Maynard Keynes and an active member in the Apostles.
He was immensely widely read in English literature, enjoyed Classics, and was very interested in politics.
In October 1924, with John Maynard Keynes's support, he became a fellow of King's College, Cambridge.
He married Lettice Baker in August 1925. After Ramsey's death, Lettice Ramsey opened a photography studio in Cambridge with photographer Helen Muspratt.
In 1926 he became a university lecturer in mathematics and later a Director of Studies in Mathematics at King's College.
He developed jaundice after an abdominal operation and died on 19 January 1930 at the age of 26. There is a suspicion that the cause of his death might be an undiagnosed leptospirosis with which Ramsey, an avid swimmer, could have become infected while swimming in the Cam.