Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. (born March 6, 1936) is an American Democratic politician who served as the second elected mayor of Washington, D.C. from 1979 to 1991, and again as the fourth mayor from 1995 to 1999. He was the target of a high-profile 1990 arrest on drug charges, which precluded him from seeking reelection that year. After he was convicted of the charges, Barry served six months in a federal prison, but was elected to the D.C. city council in 1992 and ultimately returned to the mayoralty in 1994, serving from 1995 to 1999. Today, Barry again serves on the city council, representing Ward 8, which comprises Anacostia, Congress Heights, Washington Highlands, and other neighborhoods.

Marion Barry was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, the third of ten children. His father died when he was four years old, and a year later his mother moved the family to Memphis, Tennessee. He had a number of jobs as a child, including picking cotton, delivering and selling newspapers, and bagging groceries. While in high school, Barry worked as a waiter at the American Legion post and at the Boy Scouts earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

Barry went to LeMoyne College (now LeMoyne-Owen College), graduating in 1958. While at LeMoyne, his ardent support of the civil rights movement earned him the nickname "Shep", in reference to Soviet propagandist Dmitri Shepilov. Barry began using Shepilov as his middle name. In 1958 at LeMoyne, he criticized a college trustee for remarks he felt were demeaning to African Americans, which nearly caused his expulsion.