Arthur Lewis Davies (26 January 1913 – 9 December 2011), the younger brother of writer Rhys Davies, was a Welsh

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

who in his later years established a foundation (the Rhys Davies Trust) devoted to the promotion of Welsh writing in English.

Early life

Lewis Davies was born in the

coalmining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

village of Blaenclydach, near

Tonypandy Tonypandy (, ) is a town, community and electoral ward located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, the to ...

, Wales, to parents who operated a grocery store and were careful to educate all their six children to keep them from having to be employed in the coal mines. Like his more famous brother

Rhys Rhys or Rhŷs is a popular Welsh language, Welsh given name (usually male) that is famous in Welsh history and is also used as a surname. It originates from Deheubarth, an old region of South West Wales, with famous kings such as Rhys ap Tewdwr. ...

, he was

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

and for that reason decided against a career in the Anglican priesthood.

Meic Stephens Meic Stephens, FLSW (23 July 1938 – 2 July 2018) was a Welsh literary editor, journalist, translator, and poet. Birth and education Meic Stephens was born on 23 July 1938 in the village of Treforest, near Pontypridd, Glamorgan. He was edu ...

"Lewis Davies: Philanthropist and librarian whose generosity benefited many Welsh writers"
(obituary), ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 27 December 2011. Accessed 6 March 2012.

Career

He studied History at the

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth 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 ...

, later training there also at their College of Librarianship to become a librarian. In 1937, Davies secured an assistant librarian position at the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'', which he held for ten years. He then went to

Odhams Press Odhams Press was a British publishing company, operating from 1920 to 1968. Originally a magazine publisher, Odhams later expanded into book publishing and then children's comics. The company was acquired by Fleetway Publications in 1961 and th ...

as their chief librarian in 1952 — a position he held until his retirement from the succeeding company IPC Books in 1978. In 1990, he decided to use the proceeds of substantial bequests to help promote the literary reputation of his brother Rhys and other Anglo-Welsh writers.The Rhys Davies Trust
at Literature Wales

References

External links

Rhys Davies Short Story Competition Anthologies
at Swansea University. Accessed July 6 2022. 1913 births 2011 deaths 20th-century British philanthropists People from Clydach Vale Welsh gay men Welsh librarians Welsh philanthropists Alumni of Aberystwyth University {{Wales-bio-stub