Gwenan Jones (original) (raw)

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Welsh historian (1889–1971)

Gwenan Jones (3 November 1889 – 12 January 1971)[1] was a Welsh cultural historian, and was the first woman to stand in a general election for Plaid Cymru.

Jones studied for a master's degree at the University of Wales, then received a doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 1918, both in Welsh literature. She then became a lecturer at University of Wales, Aberystwyth, settling in Llandre.[2] Jones became prominent in the Undeb Cymru Fydd, and on behalf of it, was a founder of the Wales International Society.[3]

At the 1945 general election, Jones stood for the University of Wales constituency, taking 24.5% of the vote, was the first female Plaid candidate at a general election,[4] and the only Plaid Cymru candidate in 1945 to hold her deposit.[5] Despite this relative success, Jones felt disappointed at the party's lack of progress, and did not stand for election again.[6] However, she remained involved with the party; in 1949, she chaired the launch of Plaid's "Parliament for Wales in Five Years" campaign.[7]

Jones also became the president of the Welsh teachers' union, Undeb Cenedlaethol Athrawon Cymru.[8]

In 1948, Jones took in a Latvian family from a displaced persons camp in Germany. The mother of the family initially worked as Jones' housekeeper, but later became a teacher and artist.[9]

  1. ^ Nerys Ann Jones. "Jones, Gwenan (1889-1971), educationalist and author". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  2. ^ "a Dr Gwenan Jones Archived 26 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine", National Library of Wales
  3. ^ Wales International Society, History of the Wales International Society
  4. ^ Gwynfor Evans, For the sake of Wales, p. 143
  5. ^ Alan Butt Philip, The Welsh Question, p. 74
  6. ^ Gwynfor Evans, For the sake of Wales, p. 97
  7. ^ Peter Berresford Ellis, Wales - a nation again, p. 116
  8. ^ Gareth Elwyn Jones, Controls and conflicts in Welsh secondary education, 1889-1944, p. 183
  9. ^ Andris Lielmanis, "Welsh-Latvian ties", The Baltic Times, 10 November 2004