Lionel Pigot Johnson (15 March 1867 – 4 October 1902) was an English poet, essayist, and critic (although he claimed Irish descent and wrote on Celtic themes).
The two started a lengthy religious discussion that Russell later published as Some Winchester Letters of Lionel Johnson (1919).
Johnson later denounced Wilde in "The Destroyer of a Soul" (1892) and deeply regretted that he had unwittingly initiated the secret homosexual relationship that had devolved into a public scandal.
Johnson was a member of the Rhymers' Club, and cousin to Olivia Shakespear (who dedicated her novel The False Laurel to him).
Johnson died of a "cerebral haemorrhage", per an inquest on 8 October 1902,[3] after collapsing in The Green Dragon on Fleet Street in London.