Edward Grey (1862-1933), British statesman, born in London, and educated at Oxford. He entered Parliament in 1885 and became under-secretary of state for foreign affairs (1892), a member of the Privy Council (1902), and secretary of state for foreign affairs (1905). During the troubled years before World War I he supported France in its dispute with Germany over Morocco, and he conducted the negotiations with France and Russia that led to the formation of the Triple Entente. He also attempted to mediate in the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, presiding over the negotiations of European ambassadors at the 1913 London Peace Conference.

At the outbreak of World War I he made his most famous speech, including the statement, “The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our time”. In 1915 he concluded the agreement that brought Italy into the war on the side of the Allies. The next year he resigned from the ministry and was elevated to the peerage. He became chancellor of the University of Oxford in 1928 and was president of the League of Nations Council from its founding in 1919 until his death.