Richard Price was a Welsh moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister, and mathematician. He was also a political reformer and pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the French and American Revolutions. He was well-connected and fostered communication between many prominent figures, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, George Washington, Mirabeau, and the Marquis de Condorcet. According to historian John Davies, Price was "the greatest Welsh thinker of all time".

Born in Llangeinor, near Bridgend, Wales, Price spent most of his adult life as minister of Newington Green Unitarian Church, on the then outskirts of London, England. He edited, published, and developed the Bayes–Price theorem and contributed to the field of actuarial science. He also wrote on issues of demography and finance and was a Fellow of the Royal Society.