Emyr Humphreys

Emyr Humphreys studied at Aberystwyth University. The recorded working language is Welsh and English. The field of work recorded is Welsh literature and British literature. Places of work recorded in the authority are Wales. Employment is recorded with British Broadcasting Corporation and Bangor University. Distinctions recorded are Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Somerset Maugham Award, Hawthornden Prize and Wales Book of the Year.

• Name — Emyr Humphreys • Born — 15 April 1919 • Birthplace — Prestatyn, Wales • Died — 30 September 2020 • Place of death — Llanfairpwll, Wales • Language — Welsh, English • Education — University of Wales, Aberystwyth • Children — 4, including Dewi Humphreys

Humphreys was born on 15 April 1919 at Prestatyn in Denbighshire. He was educated at Rhyl High School, where, as E. O. Humphreys, he started composing poetry and wrote for The Welsh Nationalist, the monthly English-language newspaper of the Welsh Nationalist Party, later called Plaid Cymru. He went on to study history and English at University of Wales, Aberystwyth, after winning a scholarship to study there. However, he did not graduate due to the start of the Second World War. During the war, Humphreys registered as a conscientious objector and worked on a farm. He subsequently undertook relief work in Egypt and Italy. After the war he worked as a teacher, as a radio producer at the BBC, and later became a lecturer in drama at Bangor University. Having become fluent in the Welsh language while at Aberystwyth, Humphreys went on to learn Italian while working in Italy after the war, and spent time there as well as studying the country's literature.

Humphreys married Elinor Myfanwy Jones in 1946. Together, they had four children including Dewi, Mair, Siôn and Robin. They travelled to Austria after he won the Somerset Maugham Award, which stipulated that the prize money was to be used for travel abroad. Humphreys retired in 2009 aged 90 after his final book was published. He reached his centenary on 15 April 2019. He died on 30 September 2020 at his home in Llanfairpwll, Anglesey, aged 101.