Robert Tressell was the pen name used by Robert Philippe Noonan, born Robert Croker, on April 17, 1870, and passing on February 3, 1911. He was an Irish writer renowned for his influential novel The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists.

Tressell spent much of his early adult life in South Africa, where he became actively involved in labour organisation and socialist politics. His time in Johannesburg also saw him engage with leading figures in Irish nationalism.

Returning to England, Tressell worked as a painter and decorator in Hastings. It was during this period, likely between 1906 and 1910, that he wrote his celebrated novel, which explores themes of exploitative employment and the harsh realities of life when safety nets such as charity, workhouses, and the grave were the only options. George Orwell praised it as a wonderful book.