Richard Bright (28 September 1789 – 16 December 1858) was an English physician and early pioneer in the research of kidney disease.

He was born in Bristol, Gloucestershire, the third son of Sarah and Richard Bright Sr., a wealthy merchant and banker.

In 1808, Bright Jr. joined the University of Edinburgh to study philosophy, economics and mathematics, but switched to medicine the following year.

Bright had a special affection for Hungary and in 1815 he lived in Festetics Castle in Keszthely, where there is a large plaque: "To the memory of the English physician scientist and traveller who was one of the pioneers in the accurate description of Lake Balaton.”[5] He delivered the Lumleian Lectures in 1837 on "Disorders of the Brain" and the Gulstonian lectures in 1833 on the "Function of the Abdominal Viscera" at the Royal College of Physicians.

[6] On 11 December 1858, Bright became severely ill due to complications of heart disease and was unable to recover.