David Patrick Hamilton Russell (6 November 1938 – 17 August 2014)[1] was a South African Anglican bishop.

[9] A lifelong activist, Russell, who died on 17 August 2014 after a long battle with cancer, was a friend of Steve Biko and many others fighting apartheid.

Among Russell’s many acts of defiance was when on 8 August 1977 he laid down in front of trucks and bulldozers to protest against forced removals from Modderdam in the Western Cape, an area declared "whites only".

Later in life, Russell was a founding member of the Steve Biko Foundation’s Board of Trustees and served in this role from 1998 - 2009.

On 27 April 2011, the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma conferred the Order of the Baobab in Silver on Russell for his outstanding contribution to the theological field.