Gwynfor Evans

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Gwynfor Evans (1951)

Richard Gwynfor Evans (born September 1, 1912 in Barry , † April 21, 2005 in Pencarreg near Llanbedr ) was a Welsh politician of the Plaid Cymru , MP in the British House of Commons and author.

Life

Gwynfor Evans was born the son of department store owner and lawyer Dan Evans in the Anglicised port town of Barry. He studied law at Aberystwyth University and St John's College , Oxford . As a Christian and a pacifist , Evans refused military service in World War II. From 1939 to 1945 he was secretary of Heddychwyr Cymru , the Christian pacifist movement in Wales. He did not practice his profession as a lawyer, but moved to Llangadog in Carmarthenshire , the place of his ancestors; there he learned - in addition to his very good school Welsh - to speak perfect Welsh . Llangadog became his home. With his brother Alcwyn he ran a gardening business until 1982 and sold vegetables at the local market. Above all, he devoted himself to politics. Evans had already joined the Plaid Cymru as a student. In 1945 he became chairman of the party. He held this office until 1981. Under his leadership, Plaid Cymru developed from a circle of writers, teachers and pastors into a party with a strong following in West and North Wales.

On July 14, 1966, Gwynfor Evans won - unexpectedly - the by-election in the Carmarthen constituency . This was the first time that a candidate from the Plaid Cymru was elected to the House of Commons . His success fueled Welsh nationalism and is considered to pave the way for Winnie Ewing's victory in the Scottish constituency of Hamilton in the following year, which ushered in the rise of the Scottish National Party . Hundreds of Welsh people accompanied Evans to Westminster to see his entry into Parliament. In 1970 Evans lost his constituency 3 votes (= 0.2 per thousand) behind the winner. In 1974 he managed to win back the constituency of Carmarthen by a large margin. In 1979 the Labor Party was able to recapture the constituency; in the subsequent elections Evans did not run again.

Because a bitter setback was the defeat in the referendum on March 1, 1979, in which the majority of voters rejected the Wales Act ( An Act to provide for changes in the government of Wales and in the constitution and functions of certain public bodies ) and thus the intended devolution , d. H. the transfer of certain legislative powers from the UK to a Welsh Parliament. Evan's successor as party leader was Dafydd Wigley .

From then on, Gwynfor Evans was primarily dedicated to preserving the Welsh language. In 1962 he and his colleagues succeeded in setting up the first radio station in the Welsh language, Teledu Cymru . In 1980 he pushed through that Sianel Pedwar Cymru (also Sianel 4 Cymru , S4C, Channel 4 Wales) was created as a television program in the Welsh language. S4C went on air in 1982. Evans wrote 16 books on Welsh history and culture. He worked tirelessly for his congregational churches. Since 1954 he was chairman of the Union of Welsh Independents .

In 1940 Gwynfor Evans and Rhiannon married Prys Thomas; seven children were born to them.

memory

In his native Barry, a plaque on the house where he was born on Somerset Road and a memorial in the town library commemorate Gwynfor Evans.

Fonts

  • Rhagom i Ryddid . Plaid Cymru, Caerdydd 1964.
  • Aros Mae . Gwasg John Penry, Abertawe 1971 (Floor Plan of Welsh History).
    • English edition: Land of my Fathers. 2000 Years of Welsh History . John Penry Press, Swansea 1974, ISBN 0-903701-03-0 .
  • Byw new farw? Y frwydr dros yr iaith a'r Sianel deledu gymraeg / Life or death? The struggle for the language and a Welsh TV channel . Plaid Cymru, Caerdydd 1980, ISBN 0-905077-12-1 (bilingual: Welsh and English).
  • Diwedd Prydeindod . Y Lolfa, Talybont 1981, ISBN 0-86243-018-6 .
  • Bywyd Cymro . Gwasg Gwynedd, Caernarfon 1982 (autobiography).
    • English edition: For the Sake of Wales . Welsh Academic Press, Caernarfon 1996, ISBN 1-86057-021-6 .
  • Heddychiaeth Gristnogol yng Nghymru . Cymdeithas y Cymod yng Nghymru, Llangollen 1991, ISBN 0-9517891-0-4 (on the tradition of Christian pacifism in Wales).
  • The Fight for Welsh Freedom . Y Lolfa, Talybont 2000, ISBN 0-86243-515-3 .
  • Cymru o Hud . Y Lolfa, Talybont 2000, ISBN 0-86243-545-5 .

literature

  • Rhys Evans: Gwynfor. Rhag pob brad . Y Lolfa, Talybont 2000, ISBN 0-86243-795-4 (biography).

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b Plaid pioneer Gwynfor Evans dies , BBC, April 21, 2005, accessed December 10, 2015.
  2. ↑ a b c Meic Stephens: Gwynfor Evans. President for 36 years of Plaid Cymru and Britain's first Welsh nationalist MP . In: The Independent, April 22, 2005 (obituary).
  3. ↑ Patrick Hannan: Gwynfor Evans . In: The Guardian, April 22, 2005 (obituary).
  4. ↑ Gwynfor Evans. Welsh nationalist leader who embodied Plaid Cymru's spirit and became the party's first MP . In: The Times, April 22, 2005 (obituary).
  5. ↑ The Welsh title means "Forward to Freedom".
  6. ↑ The Welsh title means: "It <meant: Wales> holds up".
  7. ↑ The Welsh title means: "The end of Britishism".
  8. ↑ The Welsh title means "Life of a Welshman".
  9. ↑ The Welsh title means: "Eternal Wales".

Web link

personal data
SURNAME Evans, Gwynfor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Evans, Richard Gwynfor (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Welsh politician (Plaid Cymru), member of the House of Commons
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Barry
DATE OF DEATH April 21, 2005
Place of death Pencarreg