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Emrys ap Iwan
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<p> Emrys ap Iwan (born Robert Ambrose Jones; 24 March 1848 – 6 January 1906) was a Welsh literary critic and writer on politics and religion. He is often seen as one of the most important forerunners of modern <a href="/facts/Welsh_nationalism/ukTExUE7">Welsh nationalism</a>. </p><p>Born in <a href="/facts/Abergele/32XTTtgD">Abergele</a>, <a href="/facts/Denbighshire/gNmFs0tw">Denbighshire</a>, Emrys was the son of a gardener who was employed on a nearby estate. After working in a shop in <a href="/facts/Liverpool/kTqATlxg">Liverpool</a> for a time he trained at Bala Theological College. In 1874, he went to <a href="/facts/Lausanne/HwlVEYGN">Lausanne</a>, Switzerland, to teach English in a private school and to study languages, developing a love of the French language and literature which had a great influence on his later writings. He later went to Germany to teach English in <a href="/facts/Bonn/eCSu8vB1">Bonn</a> and <a href="/facts/Gie%25C3%259Fen/AxtsY996">Gießen</a>. </p><p>On Emrys's return to Wales, the <a href="/facts/Presbyterian_Church_of_Wales/7pajmdY1">Calvinistic Methodist church</a> refused to ordain him a minister because of his opposition to the policy of building English-language chapels in mainly Welsh-speaking areas of Wales. He was eventually ordained a minister in 1884 and then served as a pastor to several churches in <a href="/facts/Denbighshire/gNmFs0tw">Denbighshire</a>, including Rhewl and <a href="/facts/Ruthin/fvMqh8u5">Ruthin</a>, for the rest of his life. </p><p>Emrys ap Iwan was a fervent advocate of the <a href="/facts/Welsh_language/4Pz8r6yk">Welsh language</a> and of <a href="/facts/Welsh_nationalism/ukTExUE7">Welsh nationalism</a> and believed in self-government for Wales within a <a href="/facts/Federalism/dNaFu2rM">federal</a> system of government. He was a prolific writer of newspaper articles in Welsh, three volumes of which were later published, as were two volumes of his sermons. He was a significant influence on the development of 20th-century Welsh political nationalism; a new generation became aware of his life and work through <a href="/facts/T._Gwynn_Jones/KzsIYWYo">T. Gwynn Jones</a>'s biography, first published in 1912. </p><p>A secondary school in Abergele is named Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan in his honour. </p> Wikimedia Commons has media related to Emrys ap Iwan.