Sir Ifan ab Owen Edwards (25 July

1895 Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...

– 23 January

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

) was a Welsh academic, writer and film-maker, best known as the founder of Urdd Gobaith Cymru, the Welsh League of Youth. He was born at Tremaran,

Llanuwchllyn Llanuwchllyn () is a village and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, Wales, near the southern end of Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid). It is one of the most sparsely populated communities in Wales. The electoral ward includes the small settlement ...

Merionethshire Merionethshire, or Merioneth ( or '), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the North West Wales, north-west of Wales. Name 'Merioneth' is a ...

, the son of Sir Owen Morgan Edwards, and was educated at Bala Grammar School and

University of Wales, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a public research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 students studying across three academic facul ...

. After military service with the Royal Army Service Corps on the Western Front during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he studied at

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Flemin ...

, taking a degree in history. He worked as a teacher and lecturer from 1920 to 1948, when he gave up the profession to concentrate on his work for the Urdd. In 1922, Edwards wrote a letter to the periodical ''Cymru'r Plant'', which led to the founding of the Urdd, and the first Urdd recreational camp was held at Llanuwchllyn in 1928, under his direction. The first Urdd local branch was founded in Treuddyn. It was gradually followed by more permanent camps and residential centres. In partnership with J. Ellis Williams, he made the first

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

sound film, ''The Quarryman''. In 1947 he was knighted in recognition of his youth work, and the Urdd had his portrait painted by

Alfred Janes Alfred George Janes (30 June 1911 – 3 February 1999) was a Welsh artist, who worked in Swansea and Croydon. He experimented with many forms, but is best known for his meticulous still lifes and Portrait painting, portraits. He is also remembe ...

in 1956. He was a director of Television Wales and the West and encouraged the making of television programmes in Welsh. His son, Owen Edwards, would become the first chief executive of S4C.

Works

*''A catalogue of Star Chamber proceedings relating to Wales'' (1929) (ed.) *''Yr Urdd 1922-43'' (1943) *''Clych Atgof'' (1921) (edited version of his father's autobiography)

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Ifan Ab Owen 1895 births 1970 deaths Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Welsh film directors 20th-century Welsh historians Welsh language activists Knights Bachelor People from Llanuwchllyn