Welsh Nationalist Leader Gwynfor Evans Dies
By EIFION WILLIAMS
Gwynfor Evans, the man regarded as the heart and soul of Welsh nationalism, died on April 23 at the age of 92. He will be remembered as one of the most influential figures in Twentieth Century Wales.
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GWYNFOR EVANS
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Although his nationalist views never gained majority support in Wales, Gwynfor, as he was known to most of his countrymen, never wavered in his belief that Wales deserved her rightful place in the family of nations as a self-respecting nation with her own national identity.
The culmination of his fight for greater Welsh independence was the establishing of the Welsh Assembly in 1998. Although it fell short of the full independence he wished for, the Assembly did grant Wales some measure of control over her own affairs.
During his political career Gwynfor experienced both victories and disappointments. He first achieved public prominence during the fight to save the village of Cwm Celyn in North Wales from being flooded to create a reservoir to supply Liverpool’s water needs.
Although he failed to stop the Tryweryn Reservoir opening in 1965, the campaign gave him a high profile that led him to stand as a Plaid Cymru (Welsh Nationalist) candidate for Carmarthen in a by-election in 1966. To everyone’s surprise, especially that of the Labour establishment, he won the election, becoming the first Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament.
Gwynfor lost his seat in 1970 but was re-elected in 1974, along with two other Plaid Cymru MPs. By this time nationalist feeling was growing in Wales and Scotland.
Scottish Nationalist Party President Winifred Ewing, who served in Parliament with Gwynfor as a lone SNP member, commented after his death, “We often spoke in one another’s countries and really felt we were the sole representatives for our sister nations, each campaigning for their freedom.”
Current Plaid Cymru President Dafydd Iwan said, “He was the architect of the modern day Plaid Cymru and turned the party into a credible electoral force by becoming the party’s first MP in 1966.”
Perhaps Gwynfor Evans’ greatest achievement was in forcing Margaret Thatcher to do a U-turn on one of her early decisions. Prior to the 1979 election the Conservatives had promised Wales a Welsh Language television channel. After the election, the Prime Minister reneged on the promise whereupon Gwynfor announced his intention to “fast unto death” until the promise was fulfilled.
Aware of the respect in which Gwynfor Evans was held and wary of the possible unrest such an action might cause in Wales and elsewhere, Thatcher reversed her position and agreed to the establishment of the Welsh Channel S4C. Gwynfor called the decision “the biggest victory we have ever won for the Welsh language.”
In a public statement, S4C Chair Elan Closs Stephens said “Gwynfor Evans realized the power of television to influence and change culture and language and he was determined that Welsh would have a proper place in the medium. He would be glad that other countries have followed Wales in establishing channels and services for languages in similar situations and that Wales led the world in this matter.”
Gwynfor Evans was born in 1912 to a non-Welsh speaking family in the coal-exporting port of Barry, a few miles west of Cardiff. He learned Welsh in his late teens and studied law at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and St. John’s College, Oxford.
He joined Plaid Cymru in the 1930s. Angered at the suffering he saw during the Depression, he became convinced that Wales as a community was disintegrating and that only independence could save the Welsh identity. He became president of Plaid Cymru in 1945 and held the post until 1982.
The most important influence on Gwynfor’s life was his grandfather, Ben Evans, a minister at the local chapel, from whom he acquired a strong religious conviction and a life-long devotion to pacifism.
He was a discharged conscientious objector during the Second World War, moving to Llangadog in Carmarthenshire to run a market garden enterprise as his contribution to the war effort. True to his pacifist beliefs, Gwynfor was appalled in the late 1960's when some young Welsh nationalists resorted to violent means to further the cause.
Gwynfor Evans did not possess the fiery oratorical skills of some of his fellow Welsh politicians. He remained a quiet, gentlemanly, soft-spoken figure amidst the general cacophony of political rhetoric espoused by many of his contemporaries.
Former Plaid Cymru president Dafydd Wigley said, “He was an inspiration to our generation and gave Plaid Cymru a firm lead in seeking self-government for Wales. He did so by constitutional means, always in a democratic manner that carried people with us.”
Long-time political foes paid tribute to Gwynfor Evans’ contribution to public life. The First Minister of the Welsh Assembly, Rhodri Morgan, whose Labour Party dominated Welsh politics for most of the past century, said, “Although his relationships with Labour MP’s were not always positive, there is no gainsaying his massive contribution to Welsh public life, and particularly in raising the profile of Wales and Welsh issues throughout his long career in Welsh and British politics.”
Assembly Tory leader Nick Bourne called him one of the most significant Welsh figures in modern times.
Gwynfor Evans married his wife Rhiannon on St. David’s Day, 1941, after meeting her while on holiday on the slopes of Cader Idris in North Wales. They had four sons and three daughters. When not involved in politcs, Gwynfor had a life-long love of cricket, having played for Glamorgan Schoolboys while attending Barry County School. He was also a prolific writer on Welsh history and culture.
An overflow crowd of more than 2,000 people attended Gwynfor Evans’ funeral on April 27 at Seion Chapel, Aberystwyth. As the hearse carrying the coffin draped in a Welsh flag departed, the crowd broke spontaneously into the Welsh National Anthem.
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