Bloomsbury is an area of central London often associated with intellectual pursuits. It is home to several of London’s prominent cultural and educational institutions, including the British Museum and a number of the University of London’s colleges and buildings: University College London, Birkbeck College, the School of Oriental and African Studies, and Senate House Library. The area was laid out on land belonging to the Russell family, who held the title of Duke of Bedford, and the area is known for its garden squares. The area has given its name to the Bloomsbury Group of artists, writers, and thinkers who lived in the area, including Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Lytton Strachey, and John Maynard Keynes.