Gwyn Alfred "Alf" Williams (30 September 1925 – 16 November 1995) was a Welsh historian particularly known for his work on

Antonio Gramsci Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , ; ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosophy, Marxist philosopher, Linguistics, linguist, journalist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, Political philosophy, political the ...

and

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish Romanticism, romantic painter and Printmaking, printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Hi ...

as well as on Welsh history.

Life

Williams was born in the iron town of Dowlais situated above the industrial town of

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

. He attended the Cyfarthfa

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

and later read history at University College Wales, Aberystwyth. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he joined the British Army and fought in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. Williams received his doctorate for a dissertation later published as ''Medieval London: from commune to capital''. Gwyn Alf Williams was a Communist, a member of the Young Communist League of Britain in his youth and he was the first historian to publish an article in English on Antonio Gramsci.

Career

In 1954, Williams was appointed Lecturer in Welsh History at

Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

where he worked with another historian of Wales David Williams. He left Aberystwyth for the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

where he was Chair of History from 1965 to 1974. He moved back to Wales in 1974, becoming Professor of History at University College Cardiff, where he stayed until his retirement in 1983. Throughout his career, Williams was known as an exciting lecturer, capable of drawing large crowds from across the university. After his retirement, he continued to write, but he focused more and more on television and film, presenting, with Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, a 13-part series in 1985 by HTV and

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

on Welsh history entitled '' The Dragon Has Two Tongues''. Williams was also a supporter of

Republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology that encompasses a range of ideas from civic virtue, political participation, harms of corruption, positives of mixed constitution, rule of law, and others. Historically, it emphasizes the idea of self ...

; and later a member of

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...

, he praised the anti-monarchy book ''The Enchanted Glass'' by Tom Nairn. In 1983 Williams took early retirement from his chair at Cardiff and began making films with Teliesyn, an independent Welsh broadcasting company based in

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 ...

. He eventually moved from Cardiff to the village of Dre-fach Felindre, in

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

Publications

*''Medieval London'', 1963 nd edition 2007*''Artisans and Sans-Culottes: Popular Movements in France and Britain During the French Revolution'', 1968 nd edition 2001*''Proletarian Order: Antonio Gramsci, Factory Councils and the Origins of Communism in Italy 1911-1921'', 1975 *''Goya and the Impossible Revolution'', 1976 *''The Merthyr Rising'', 1978 nd edition 1998; reprinted 2013, 2021*''Madoc: The Making of a Myth'', 1979 *''The Search for Beulah Land: the Welsh and the Atlantic Revolution'', 1980 *''The Welsh in Their History'', 1982 *'' When Was Wales?'', 1985 *''Excalibur: the Search for Arthur'', 1994

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Gwyn A. 1925 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Welsh historians Historians of Wales People educated at Cyfarthfa Grammar School Alumni of Aberystwyth University Academics of Aberystwyth University Academics of Cardiff University Historians of the University of York People from Dowlais Welsh television presenters Welsh nationalists Welsh republicans