David Ellis Evans FBA (23 September 1930 – 26 September 2013) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

scholar and academic. Having lectured at the

University of Wales, Swansea Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

, he returned to his alma mater the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, serving as Jesus Professor of Celtic from 1978 until he retired in 1996.

Early life and education

Evans was born on 23 September 1930 in

Llanfynydd Llanfynydd is a village, parish and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The community population at the 2011 census was 499. It lies some 10 miles (16 km) north-east of the county town, Carmarthen. Bordering it are the communities of Llansaw ...

, Carmarthenshire, Wales. He was educated at

Llandeilo Llandeilo () is a town and Community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated where the River Towy is crossed by the A483 road, A483 on a 19th-century stone bridge. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the community had ...

Grammar School. After studying at

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

and he received a doctorate from the

Academic career

Evans lectured at the

from 1957 to 1978, rising to become a professor. In 1978, he returned to Oxford University as Jesus Professor of Celtic and also became a

Professorial Fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

of Jesus College. He was appointed as a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

in 1983, having delivered the Academy's

Sir John Rhys ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

Memorial Lecture in 1977, named in honour of the first Oxford Celtic Professor. He retired in 1996. His particular research interest was early

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

culture throughout Europe, dealing with its relationship with that of the

classical world Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the interwoven civilization ...

, and in the history of the

Insular Celtic languages Insular Celtic languages are the group of Celtic languages spoken in Brittany, Great Britain, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. All surviving Celtic languages are in the Insular group, including Breton, which is spoken on continental Europe in Br ...

, including the early literatures of Wales and Ireland. A volume of essays on these topics by fellow Celticists was published in 1995 in honour of his 65th birthday; ''Essays in honour of Professor D. Ellis Evans on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday''.Essays in honour of Professor D. Ellis Evans on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday (University of Wales Press website) (Retrieved 18 February 2007
)

Selected works

References

1930 births Academics of Swansea University Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford Celtic studies scholars Welsh scholars and academics 2013 deaths Fellows of the British Academy Jesus Professors of Celtic People from Llandeilo {{Wales-academic-bio-stub