Edward Robert Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, (8 November 1831 – 24 November 1891) was an English statesman, Conservative politician, and poet (who used the pseudonym Owen Meredith).
He served as Viceroy of India between 1876 and 1880—during his tenure Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India—and as British Ambassador to France from 1887 to 1891.
His tenure as Viceroy was extremely successful, but controversial for its ruthlessness in both domestic and foreign affairs: especially for his response to the Great Famine of 1876–78, and the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
Lytton's policies were alleged to be informed by his Social Darwinism.
His tenure as Ambassador to Paris was successful, and Lytton was afforded the rare tribute – especially for an Englishman – of a French state funeral in Paris.