Eluned Morgan (20 March 1870 – 29 December 1938) was a

Welsh-language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the 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 colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). ...

Argentinian author from

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

. She was raised in

Y Wladfa Y Wladfa (, 'The Colony'), also occasionally Y Wladychfa Gymreig (, 'The Welsh Settlement'), refers to the establishment of settlements by Welsh colonists and immigrants in the Argentine Patagonia, beginning in 1865, mainly along the coast of ...

, a Welsh colony in Patagonia, and was taught to speak both Welsh and Spanish. Her father eventually enrolled her in Dr Williams' School in Wales, where she had to learn the English language. She led

student protest Campus protest or student protest is a form of student activism that takes the form of protest at university campuses. Such protests encompass a wide range of activities that indicate student dissatisfaction with a given political or academi ...

s against the school's English-only policy, which prohibited the use of Welsh by its students. As a writer, Morgan is primarily remembered for two

travel book Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel ca ...

s which described journeys to Patagonia and to the Andes. Her book ''Dringo'r Andes'' also covered in detail the relations between different

ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

s. Otherwise, Morgan is remembered for writing a history of the

Incas The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The Inca civilisation rose fr ...

. After spending a few decades in Wales, Morgan returned to Patagonia in 1918. She spend the rest of her life there.

Biography

Morgan was born aboard the ship ''Myfanwy'' in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

. The ship was ''en route'' from Great Britain to

in South America. She was the daughter of Lewis Jones who gave his name to the city of

Trelew Trelew (, from "town" and the name of the founder, Lewis Jones) is a city in the eastern part of the Chubut Province of Argentina, 21km away from the coast. Located in Patagonia, the city is the largest and most populous in the low valley of the ...

, in

Chubut Province Chubut ( from Tehuelche language, Tehuelche 'transparent'; ) is a provinces of Argentina, province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa ...

, Argentina. Her father's family name was Jones, but she received the surname

Morgan Morgan may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment'', also called ''Morgan!'', a 1966 comedy film * ''Morgan'' (2012 film), an American drama * ''Morgan'' (2016 film), an American science fiction thriller * ...

at her christening. She was raised in the Welsh colony of

in Patagonia. She was educated at a Welsh school operated there by

Richard Jones Berwyn Richard Jones Berwyn (October 1837 – 25 December 1917) was an early Welsh colonist in Patagonia. Early life Richard Jones was born in October 1837 in Glyndyfrdwy, Wales. In 1852, he began his studies at the Borough Road Teacher Training Col ...

. She learned to speak Welsh and Spanish, but not English. Morgan first visited Wales in 1885. In 1888, Morgan was sent by her father, Lewis Jones, from Patagonia to be educated at Dr Williams School in

Dolgellau Dolgellau (; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Merion ...

. In the Welsh colony in Patagonia, education was through the medium of Welsh. In Wales itself, English was used in schools due to the demands of the community and the use of Welsh was discouraged, including by the use of the controversial Welsh Not. Eluned arrived in Wales speaking Welsh and Spanish and very little, if any, English. Winnie Ellis, sister of the Meirioneth MP, T. E. Ellis, who would translate for her from English, recalls her as 'walking like a prince'. According to Ellis, Morgan stood out with her

dark skin Dark skin is a type of human skin color that is rich in melanin pigments. People with dark skin are often referred to as black people, although this usage can be ambiguous in some countries where it is also used to specifically refer to differe ...

and eyes. Upon arriving at the school, Morgan led a procession out of the class in protest at the English-only policy and attitude of the school. The dispute was only settled when Michael D. Jones, the founder of the Welsh colony in Patagonia, traveled from

Bala Bala may refer to: Films * ''Bala'' (1976 film), an English-language dance documentary * ''Bala'' (2002 film), a Tamil-language action film * ''Bala'' (2019 film), a Hindi-language black comedy Life forms *Bala shark (''Balantiocheilos melano ...

to mediate. Morgan stayed at the School for two years, and finished her education c. 1890. She then returned to the Welsh colony in Patagonia, and started operating a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

for girls. The school closed c. 1892. In 1891, Morgan started her literary career by submitting her essays to the colony's

eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

(a literary competition). She competed for the essay prizes. In 1893, Morgan became an editor for the Welsh-language newspaper called ''Y Drafod'', which was founded that year by her father in order to promote Welshness in Y Wladfa. Morgan also helped with the newspaper's composition. In 1896, Morgan briefly returned to Wales. In 1897, the Welsh periodical ''Cymru (O.M.E.)'' started publishing her articles. At the time, she also attempted to establish

intermediate school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

. In 1898, Morgan travelled to the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

. She wrote down an account of her journey, which was published in ''Cymru (O.M.E.)'' from 1899 to 1900. In 1903, Morgan was hired as an assistant by

Cardiff Central Library Cardiff Central Library (now Cardiff Central Library Hub) () is the main library in the Cardiff city centre, city centre of Cardiff, Wales. It offers a public library service and is open six days a week. Four buildings have been named as such, ...

. She worked there until 1909. During this period, Morgan delivered a series of lectures throughout Wales. She left Wales for a few years to travel the Middle East. Her journey to

Ottoman Palestine The region of Palestine (region), Palestine is part of the wider region of the Levant, which represents the land bridge between Africa and Eurasia.Steiner & Killebrew, p9: "The general limits ..., as defined here, begin at the Plain of ' ...

was described in her book ''Ar Dir a Môr'' (1913). After another stay in Patagonia, Morgan returned to

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

in 1912. She lived in the city from 1912 to 1918. She then returned to the Welsh colony in Patagonia, where she lived until her death in 1938. During the last decades of her life, Morgan served as a leader in the religious life of the colony.

Literary career

She wrote numerous articles on Y Wladfa (the Welsh settlement in Patagonia) for Welsh periodicals such as

Cymru () is the Welsh language, Welsh-language name for Wales, a country of the United Kingdom, on the island of Great Britain. It, and the Welsh word referring to the Welsh people, are descended from the Common Brittonic, Brythonic word ''combr ...

, edited by

Owen Morgan Edwards Sir Owen Morgan Edwards (26 December 1858 – 15 May 1920), often known as O. M. Edwards, was a Welsh historian, educationalist and writer. Biography Owen Edwards was born in Llanuwchllyn near Bala, the eldest son of Owen and Beti Edward ...

, but is chiefly remembered for her two travel books, ''Dringo'r Andes'' (1904), about a journey across country from the Welsh Settlement to the Andes, and ''Gwymon y Môr'' (1909), about a sea voyage from Britain to Patagonia. She also wrote a book on the history of the

, ''Plant yr Haul'' (1915). Morgan wrote ''Dringo'r Andes'', an account of early Welsh life in the Patagonian settlement including accounts of the relations between the Welsh, and the

indigenous peoples in Argentina Native Argentines (), also known as Indigenous Argentines (), are Argentines who have predominant or total ancestry from one of the 39 groups of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples officially recognized by the Government of Arg ...

(which were good on the whole), the ruling Spaniards, and the immigrant Italians.Eluned Morgan, Bibliography "''Dringo’r Andes''" ("Climbing the Andes"), Published by Honno, 2001. First published in Wales in 1904.

Books

*''Dringo'r Andes'' (1. Y Brodyr Owen, Abergavenny, 1904; 2. Southall & Co., Newport, 1907; 3. Southall & Co., 1909; 4. Southall & Co., 1917; 5. Southall & Co. n.d.) *''Gwymon y Môr'' (Y Brodyr Owen, Abergavenny, 1909) *''Ar Dir a Môr'' (Y Brodyr Owen, Abergavenny, 1913) *''Plant yr Haul'' (1. Evans & Williams, Cardiff, 1915; 2. Southall & Co., 1921; 3. Southall & Co., 1926)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Eluned 1870 births 1938 deaths 19th-century Argentine writers 19th-century Argentine women writers 19th-century Welsh writers 19th-century Welsh women writers 20th-century Welsh women writers 20th-century Argentine women writers 20th-century Welsh historians People from Chubut Province Welsh emigrants to Argentina Welsh-language writers Welsh settlement in Patagonia Welsh travel writers British women travel writers Argentine travel writers Welsh women historians 20th-century Argentine historians Welsh newspaper editors Welsh women editors People born at sea Women non-fiction writers

Biography

Literary career

Books

Further reading

References