Gwynfor Evans

Gwynfor Evans was born in Barry, South Wales, son of a department store owner. He learnt Welsh, and was fluent by 17. He studied at Aberystwyth University and St. John's College, Oxford and graduated as a lawyer. Gwynfor Evans' politics crystallised whilst at Aberystwyth University. He set up a branch of Plaid Cymru, then a fringe party. He was a pacifict who refused to fight in teh Second World War. In 1945, he became President of Plaid Cymru and campaigned against plans to flood the village of Cwm Celyn, near Bala. Although the campaign was unsuccessful, and the area was flooded to provide a source of water for Liverpool, the campaign won him supporters. In 1966, against the odds, he won a sensational victory at a parlimentary by-election in Carmarthen. A year later the Labour government passed the first Welsh Language Act. Gwynfor Evans also threatened to starve himself to death when Margaret Thatcher broke her work regarding setting up a Welsh language television channel in 1980. He campaigned tirelessly on matters relating to language and cultural identity. Gwynfor Evans died in 2005.

http://www.gwynfor.net/