John Sturge Stephens (26 June 1891 – 12 July 1954) was born into a prominent family of Quakers (the Society of Friends) in Cornwall. During the First World War, he was a pacifist and conscientious objector and between the wars travelled extensively throughout Europe, on behalf of the Society of Friends, with a view to creating a peaceful future for the continent. In 1938 he helped numerous Austrian Jewish refugees to escape from Nazi persecution, and accommodated several of them at his homes in England.