View source for Saunders Lewis

{{Short description|Welsh writer and politician (1893–1985)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Saunders Lewis
| image               = Saunders Lewis (1520397).jpg
| image_upright       = 0.6
| caption             = Saunders Lewis in 1973
| office              = President of [[Plaid Cymru]]
| termstart           = 1926
| termend             = 1939
| predecessor         = [[Lewis Valentine]]
| succeeded           = [[John Edward Daniel]]
| birth_date          = 15 October 1893
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1985|9|1|1893|10|15|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Wallasey]], [[Cheshire]], [[England]]
| death_place         = [[Cardiff]], [[Wales]]
| birth_name          = John Saunders Lewis
| alma_mater          = [[University of Liverpool]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|Margaret Gilcriest|1924|1984|reason=died}}
| children            = 1
| party               = [[Plaid Cymru]]
| serviceyears        = 1914-1919
| branch              = [[British Army]]
| unit                = [[King's Liverpool Regiment]]<br>[[South Wales Borderers]]
| battles             = {{Tree list}}
* '''[[World War I]]'''
** [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]
*** [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]]
{{Tree list/end}}
| rank                = [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|Lieutenant]]
}}

'''Saunders Lewis''' (born '''John Saunders Lewis'''; 15 October 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a [[Wales|Welsh]] politician, poet, dramatist, [[Medievalist]], and [[literary critic]]. Born into a Welsh-speaking ministerial family in [[Greater Liverpool]], Lewis studied in a public school growing up. He rediscovered the importance of both his [[heritage language]] and cultural roots while serving as a junior officer in the [[British Army]] during the [[trench warfare|trenches]] of the [[First World War]]. As a vocal supporter of [[Welsh nationalism]], Lewis believed, however, that heritage [[language revival]], [[cultural nationalism]], the dramatic arts, and [[Welsh culture|culture]] needed to precede [[Welsh devolution]] or [[Welsh independence|political independence]]. If the excessive [[Anglophilia]] and [[colonial mentality]] traditionally known as [[Dic Siôn Dafydd]] was never challenged or defeated, Lewis predicted in 1918, "the [[Senedd|Welsh Parliament]] would [only] be an enlarged County Council."<ref> Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 107.</ref>

Lewis accordingly became a co-founder of Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru (The National Party of Wales), now the [[Welsh nationalist]] [[political party]] known as [[Plaid Cymru]], at a covert meeting with fellow nationalists during the 1925 [[National Eisteddfod of Wales]]. Lewis has been described by [[Jan Morris]] as, "the most passionate of twentieth century [[Welsh nationalism|Welsh patriots]]",<ref> Jan Morris (1984), ''The Matter of Wales: Epic Views of a Small Country'', [[Oxford University Press]]. Page 352.</ref> and as being, "one of the few twentieth century writers in Welsh with a European reputation, but for many Welshmen [he was] chiefly the keeper of the national conscience."<ref> Jan Morris (1984), ''The Matter of Wales: Epic Views of a Small Country'', [[Oxford University Press]]. Page 132.</ref> Lewis is usually acknowledged as one of the most vitally important figures in 20th-century [[Welsh-language literature]]. He is also widely credited, through his 1962 radio address ''[[Tynged yr Iaith]]'' ("The Fate of the Language"), with almost singlehandedly bringing [[Welsh language|Welsh]] back from the brink of [[language death]]. 

In 1970, Lewis was nominated for a [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] and was appointed as a [[Knight Commander]] of the [[Order of St Gregory]] by [[Pope Paul VI]]. Saunders Lewis' [[Traditionalist Catholicism|traditionalist Catholic]] and [[distributist]] beliefs gave him a simultaneously [[anti-Marxist]] and [[anti-colonialist]] interpretation of [[Welsh history]] and a similar vision, influenced by his study of what had he considered to have worked in [[Irish nationalism]], for the future of the [[Welsh people]]. Lewis was overwhelmingly voted the tenth greatest Welsh hero in the '[[100 Welsh Heroes]]' poll, released on [[St. David's Day]] 2004.<ref name="auto">[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/3523363.stm Bevan is ultimate Welsh hero] extracted 12-04-07</ref>

==Early life==
John Saunders Lewis was born into a Welsh-speaking family in [[Wallasey]] in [[the Wirral]], [[Cheshire]], in the [[north-west of England]], on 15 October 1893. He was the second of three sons of Lodwig Lewis (1859–1933), a [[Calvinistic Methodist]] minister, and his wife Mary Margaret (née Thomas, 1862–1900). When he was only six years old, Lewis's mother died and his unmarried maternal "Aunt Ellen" (Ellen Elizabeth Thomas) moved into the [[manse]] and helped to raise him.<ref>Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Pages 76-87.</ref>

[[Jan Morris]] has described [[Liverpool]] as the closest there is to a [[metropolis]] for the people of [[North Wales]].<ref> Jan Morris (1984), ''The Matter of Wales: Epic Views of a Small Country'', [[Oxford University Press]]. Page 352.</ref> During a television interview with [[Aneirin Talfan Davies]], Lewis later recalled that this was also true during his childhood, as in and around Liverpool, "there were around about a hundred thousand Welsh-speaking [[Welsh people]]... So I was not born in [[Anglosphere|English-speaking]] England... but into a society that was completely Welsh and Welsh-speaking."<ref>Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 87.</ref>

Even though his father was a scholar, "who liked solitude and study", and possessed a very large library of [[Welsh literature]], the only Welsh-language books that Saunders Lewis read while growing up were [[William Morgan (Bible translator)|Bishop Morgan]]'s [[Y Beibl cyssegr-lan|Bible]], the hymnbook, and Sunday school commentaries.<ref>Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 88.</ref>

Lewis attended prestigious English-speaking [[Liscard]] High School for Boys<ref name=DWB>{{cite web|last1=Chapman|first1=T. Robin|title=Lewis, John Saunders|url=https://biography.wales/article/s10-LEWI-SAU-1893|website=[[Dictionary of Welsh Biography]]|publisher=[[National Library of Wales]]|access-date=19 May 2018|date=2014}}</ref> where he was bullied at first, due to the fact that what little English he could speak, "was full of Welsh words." In time, however, Lewis became, "a typical product of the English education system." He became editor of ''The Liscard High School Magazine'' and often visited the Wallasey Public Library, where he read contemporary English literature and, as a teenager, was enthusiastic when he discovered the recent [[mythopoeia|mythopoeic]] poetry and prose reimaginings of [[Irish folklore]] and [[Irish mythology|mythology]] by [[Irish nationalist]]s [[William Butler Yeats]], [[John Millington Synge]], and [[Padraic Colum]].<ref>Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 87-88.</ref>

Lewis later recalled that through these writers, "I came for the first time to understand what patriotism meant and the spirit of the nation meant. And I soon began to think that things like those , which had seized hold of them in Ireland, were the things I should seize hold of in Wales."<ref>Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 88.</ref>

Lewis' earliest attempts at writing poems were in English and were inspired by [[William Wordsworth]], [[Walter Pater]], [[John Wesley]] and the [[King James Bible]].<ref>Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 88.</ref>

==Personal life==
After entering [[Liverpool University]] to study [[English literature]] in 1911, Lewis is believed to have first met fellow student Margaret Gilcriest, a Roman Catholic from [[County Wicklow]] and staunch believer in Irish [[Self-determination|political]] and [[cultural nationalism]], in December 1913.<ref>Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 88.</ref> Lewis and Gilcriest shared an enthusiasm for literature and in their subsequent courtship by letters, all of which have since been published, there are references to the writings of [[Dora Sigerson]], [[Katherine Tynan]], [[James Clarence Mangan]], [[Alice Meynell]], [[Emily Lawless]], [[Thomas Kettle]], [[Daniel Corkery (author)|Daniel Corkery]], and [[James Joyce]].<ref>Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 89.</ref>

After his aunt Ellen persuaded his father "to accept the inevitable", Lewis and Margaret Gilcriest (1891-1984) were married at Our Lady and St Michael Roman Catholic Church in [[Workington]], [[Cumberland]], on 31 July 1924. They had one child, a daughter.<ref> [https://biography.wales/article/s10-LEWI-SAU-1893 LEWIS, JOHN SAUNDERS (1893-1985)], [[Dictionary of Welsh Biography]].</ref><ref> [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-12403710 Mair Saunders Jones, daughter of Plaid pioneer, dies], [[BBC News]], 9 February 2011.</ref>

==First World War==
[[File:Saunders-lewis-y-drych-1916 (cropped).jpg|thumb|399x399px|Saunders Lewis while an officer in the [[British Army]], 3 February 1916]]
When the [[World War I|First World War]] broke out, an idealistic Lewis, feeling inspired by the [[Aestheticism|Aesthete philosophy]] of Walter Pater to, "savour this experience of life-energy at the utmost", enlisted in the 3rd Battalion, [[King's Liverpool Regiment]] on 4 September 1914. [[British Army]] records describe Lewis at the time as five-feet and three inches in height, weighing just over seven and a half stone, and as having red hair and grey eyes.<ref> Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 89.</ref>

In April 1915, Lewis applied for a commission with the [[South Wales Borderers]] and was promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|full lieutenant]] in February 1916. The following summer, he was deployed to [[active service]] on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].<ref> Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 89.</ref>

During the war, Lewis read the [[trilogy]] of novels ''[[The Cult of the Self]]'' (French: ''Le Culte du moi'') by the French writer [[Maurice Barrès]]. Barrès, a [[French nationalist]], had called since the 1890s, alongside [[Paul Claudel]] and [[Paul Bourget]], for, "a 'return' to national values and traditions."<ref> Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 106.</ref> This volume heavily influenced Lewis' growing sense of his own Welsh identity and belief in the vital importance of [[cultural nationalism]].<ref name="Alien Face"/> 

Furthermore, according to Jelle Krol, Lewis, was amazed to see how his own father's recent words of advice were echoed by Barrès, who wrote, "the only way to cultivate your personality as an artist and to develop your own resources, is to go back to your roots".<ref> Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 105.</ref> Lewis accordingly, "discovered the importance of his Welsh roots during his service in France."<ref name="Jelle Krol 2020 Page 75">Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 75.</ref>

In April 1917, Lewis was severely [[wounded in action]] in the left leg and thigh near [[Gonnelieu]], with, "the calf of the leg nearly blown away",<ref> Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 89.</ref> as part of the [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]].<ref name="Alien Face">{{Cite episode |title=Saunders Lewis: Alien Face In The Mirror |series=Writing On The Line  |first=Gwyn A. |last=Williams |author-link=Gwyn A. Williams |network=[[Channel 4]] |date=1993}}</ref> Afterwards, Lewis needed more than a year to convalesce, during which his younger brother, Ludwig Lewis, was [[killed in action]] on 7 July 1917. Although Lewis desperately wanted to visit and help comfort their grieving father at [[Swansea]], his own battlefield injuries were still far too severe to permit him to travel.<ref> Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 89.</ref>

In a 23 July 1918 letter to ''[[The Cambria Daily Leader]]'', Lewis, as he would do for the remainder of his life, explained why he felt [[cultural nationalism]] needed to precede political [[decolonisation]], "In Wales, if we gave ourselves less to party politics and more to the development of our own education and culture, we should make Wales more fitted to have an [[self-determination|independent life]] of her own under [[Welsh devolution|Home Rule]]. And Home Rule, before we have a real national spirit, would mean simply that the [[Senedd|Welsh Parliament]] would be an enlarged County Council."<ref> Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 107.</ref>

== Return to Wales ==
After his return from the trenches, Lewis entered the literary field by arguing that three conditions needed to be met for [[Welsh literature]] to become truly meaningful. Firstly, "a more professional attitude to Welsh drama". Secondly, the reestablishment of a direct link between [[Welsh culture]] with that of mainland Europe, and particularly with [[French culture]], and, lastly, a more continual religious and cultural exploration of pre-[[English Reformation|Reformation]] Wales by Welsh writers and intellectuals.<ref name="Jelle Krol 2020 Page 75"/>

In a 22 October 1919 letter to ''The Cambria Daily Leader'', called for a revival of drama in the Welsh language, beginning with the improvement of dramas set in the villages, "All the plays we have seen so far describe, and rather idyllically describe, village manners. But village life is more than 'manners'. It includes memories and traditions and song and even dance and mummery. Village and peasant drama, if it should tell the round truth, must include romance, the ''[[Mabinogion]]'', the [[monastery]], [[witchcraft]], [[Annwn|fairyland]], and all the [[Welsh mythology|ancient playgrounds]] of men. Let us widen our field."<ref> Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 98.</ref>

In a letter of 25 October 1919 to the same newspaper, Lewis urged Welsh-language [[playwright]]s and the theatre going public to both, "take note of the dramatic history of Europe." Lewis continued, "And so it seems to me we should begin anew with [[literary translation|translation]]. We should translate into Welsh the plays of the acknowledged masters, of [[Euripides]], of [[Corneille]], of [[Jean Racine|Racine]], of [[Moliere]], of [[Ibsen]], of the [[Spanish Golden Age|Spaniards]], and we should act them continually; we should learn the classics."<ref> Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 98.</ref>

In 1922, he was appointed as lecturer in Welsh literature at the [[University of Wales, Swansea|University College of Wales, Swansea]]. During his time at Swansea he produced some of his most significant works of literary criticism: ''A School of Welsh Augustans'' (1924), ''[[William Williams Pantycelyn|Williams Pantycelyn]]'' (1927), and ''{{lang|cy|{{ill|Braslun o hanes llenyddiaeth Gymraeg|cy}}}}'' (An outline history of Welsh literature) (1932).<ref name="Kendall2007">{{cite book|last=Kendall|first=Tim|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=09LB6-dYwCUC&pg=PA342|title=The Oxford Handbook of British and Irish War Poetry|date=22 February 2007|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-928266-1|page=342}}</ref> He continued in this post until his dismissal for a political act of arson at Penyberth, Gwynedd, in 1936.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/saunders-lewis/|title=BBC - Saunders Lewis|website=BBC}}</ref>

==Founding Plaid Cymru==
Discussions of the need for a "Welsh party" had been conducted since the 19th century.<ref>{{harvp|Davies|1994a|pp=415, 454}}</ref> With the generation or so before 1922 there "had been a marked growth in the constitutional recognition of the Welsh nation", wrote historian [[John Davies (historian)|John Davies]].<ref>{{harvp|Davies|1994a|p=544}}</ref> By 1924 there were people in Wales "eager to make their nationality the focus of Welsh politics".<ref name="harvp|Davies|1994a|p=547">{{harvp|Davies|1994a|p=547}}</ref> Lewis's experiences in [[World War I]], and his sympathy for the cause of [[Irish War of Independence|Irish independence]], brought him to Welsh nationalism. {{Citation needed|date=October 2022}} He was an advocate for [[Welsh independence]].<ref name="Davies_547">{{harvp|Davies|1994a|p=547}}</ref>

In 1924, Lewis founded ''{{lang|cy|Y Mudiad Cymreig}}'' ("The Welsh Movement") with a small group of fellow nationalists. The group met secretly for the first time in Penarth on 7 January 1924.<ref name="Plaid Cymru Penarth-2013">{{Cite web|url=http://plaidpenarth.blogspot.com/2013/12/penarths-secret-role-in-welsh-history.html|title=Penarth's Secret Role in Welsh History|date=5 December 2013|website=Plaid Cymru Penarth}}</ref> The group continued to meet in secret throughout 1924 and began drawing up a set of aims and policies intended to "rescue Wales from political and cultural oblivion".

At around the same time as Lewis formed ''{{lang|cy|Y Mudiad Cymreig}}'', another group of nationalists formed ''{{lang|cy|Byddin Ymreolwyr Cymru}}'' ("The Welsh Home Rule Army") in Caernarfon.<ref name="History Points">{{Cite web|url=https://historypoints.org/index.php?page=site-of-plaid-cymrus-founding-pwllheli|title=Site of Plaid Cymru's founding, Pwllheli|website=History Points}}</ref> The group was led by [[Huw Robert Jones]], who made contact with Lewis in early 1925 and proposed to form a new political party.<ref name="Plaid Cymru Penarth-2013" /> 
[[File:Penblwydd Plaid Cymru Anniversary - geograph.org.uk - 644944.jpg|thumb|A plaque was inaugurated to mark the 75th anniversary of [[Plaid Cymru]]'s founding meeting in 2000 on the building where the meeting took place in [[Pwllheli]]|269x269px]]

Lewis met with Jones, [[Lewis Valentine]], Moses Griffith, Fred Jones and D. Edmund Williams in a café called Maes Gwyn<ref name="History Points" /> during the 1925 [[National Eisteddfod]] in [[Pwllheli]], [[Gwynedd]], with the aim of establishing a "Welsh party".<ref name="harvp|Davies|1994a|p=547" /> They founded ''{{lang|cy|Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru}}'' ("National Party of Wales"), on 5 August 1925.<ref name="Ailgeni">{{harvp|Morgan|2002|p=206}}</ref> The principal aim of the party would be to foster a Welsh-speaking Wales.<ref name="Davies_548">{{harvp|Davies|1994a|p=548}}</ref> To this end it was agreed that party business be conducted in Welsh, and that members sever all links with other British parties.<ref name="Davies_548" /> Lewis insisted on these principles before he would agree to the Pwllheli conference.

According to the 1911 census, out of a population of just under 2.5 million, 43.5% of the total population of Wales spoke Welsh as a primary language.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/language/pages/1911.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609020726/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/language/pages/1911.shtml|title=BBCWales History extracted 12-03-07|archive-date=9 June 2008}}</ref> This was a decrease from the 1891 census with 54.4% speaking Welsh out of a population of 1.5 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/language/pages/1891.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609021026/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/language/pages/1891.shtml|title=BBCWales history extracted 12-03-07|archive-date=9 June 2008}}</ref> With these pre-requisites, Lewis condemned {{"'}}Welsh nationalism' as it had hitherto existed, a nationalism characterized by inter-party conferences, an obsession with [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Westminster]] and a willingness to accept a subservient position for the Welsh language", wrote Davies.<ref name="Davies_548"/> It may be because of these strict positions that the party failed to attract politicians of experience in its early years.<ref name="Davies_548"/> However, the party's members believed its founding was an achievement in itself; "merely by existing, the party was a declaration of the distinctiveness of Wales", wrote Davies.<ref name="Davies_548"/>

==The Lewis Doctrine 1926–1939==
During the inter-war years, ''Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru'' was most successful as a social and educational pressure group rather than as a political party.<ref name="Davies_591">{{harvp|Davies|1994a|p=591}}</ref> For Saunders Lewis, party president 1926 to 1939, "the chief aim of the party [is] to 'take away from the Welsh their sense of inferiority&nbsp;... to remove from our beloved country the mark and shame of conquest.{{'"}} Lewis sought to cast ''Welshness'' into a new context, wrote Davies.<ref name="Davies_591"/>

Lewis wished to demonstrate how Welsh heritage was linked as one of the 'founders' of European civilization.<ref name="Davies_591"/> Lewis, a self-described "strong [[Monarchism|monarchist]]", wrote "Civilization is more than an abstraction. It must have a local habitation and name. Here its name is Wales."<ref name="Davies_591"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/4329001.stm |title=Royal plans to beat nationalism |work=[[BBC News]] |date=8 March 2005 |access-date=28 August 2012}}</ref> Additionally, Lewis strove for the stability, educational and cultural advancement, and economic prosperity of local communities in [[Y Fro Gymraeg]]. He also denounced both [[laissez faire]] [[capitalism]] and [[Marxism]], and instead promoted what he called ''{{lang|cy|perchentyaeth}}'': (lit. "distributing property among the masses"), based on [[Catholic social teaching]], [[Distributism]], and [[Christian democracy]].<ref name="Davies_591"/>

==Broadcasting==

Saunders Lewis perceived the early development of BBC radio broadcasting in Wales (which was almost entirely in English) as serious threat to his aim of arresting the decline of the Welsh language (then down to 36%) and turning Wales back into a 100% Welsh-speaking nation. At the same time he also recognised that if he could exert influence and pressure on the BBC, the Corporation could become a useful tool to serve Plaid Cymru's political ends. In 1929 he declared it would soon be necessary to arrange for "thousands of Welshmen to be prosecuted for refusing to pay for English programmes".<ref>Manchester Guardian 1 August 1929</ref> The following year Lewis was commissioned by E.R. Appleton, Director of the BBC's Cardiff radio station, (who had banned broadcasting in Welsh) to broadcast a talk which would "explain Welsh Nationalism". On vetting the script, which advocated political nationalism in preference to "cultural nationalism", Appleton decided it was too controversial and inflammatory to be broadcast.<ref name="Davies_BBC">{{harvp|Davies|1994b}}</ref> In October 1933 the University of Wales Council, which had been lobbying for more Welsh-language broadcasting, appointed a ten-man council to press the case with the BBC. It included [[David Lloyd George]], [[William R. P. George|William George]], [[William John Gruffydd|W.&nbsp;J. Gruffydd]] and Saunders Lewis – who was continuing to incense the BBC by publicly alleging it was "seeking the destruction of the Welsh language". The University Committee, which was described by BBC Director General [[John Reith, 1st Baron Reith|John Reith]] as "the most unpleasant and unreliable people with whom it has been my misfortune to deal" gained ever more influence on the BBC in Wales not least in the selection of BBC staff – a function delegated to the committee by the corporation. As newspapers of the time noted, appointees seemed primarily drawn from the families of the Welsh-speaking elite including "the son of a professor of Welsh and the offspring of three archdruids".<ref>{{harvp|Davies|1994b|pp=70–71}}</ref> Saunders Lewis's assiduous campaigning over the years was to succeed in cementing an ongoing Plaid Cymru influence within the BBC. When the BBC's Welsh Advisory Council was eventually established in 1946, although half its members were Labour, several Plaid Cymru supporters were appointed including Saunders Lewis's successor as Plaid Cymru president, [[Gwynfor Evans]].<ref name="Davies_BBC"/>

==''{{lang|cy|Tân yn Llŷn}}'' 1936==

Welsh nationalism was ignited in 1936 when the UK Government settled on establishing an [[RAF]] training camp and aerodrome at [[Penyberth]]<ref>[[RAF Penrhos]]</ref> on the [[Llŷn Peninsula]] in [[Gwynedd]]. The events surrounding the protest, known as ''{{lang|cy|Tân yn Llŷn}}'' ("Fire in Llŷn"), helped define ''{{lang|cy|Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru}}''.<ref name="Davies_593">{{harvp|Davies|1994a|p=593}}</ref> The UK Government settled on Llŷn as the site for its training camp after similar proposed sites in [[Northumberland]] and [[Dorset]] met with protests.<ref name="Davies_592">{{harvp|Davies|1994a|p=592}}</ref>

However, Prime Minister [[Stanley Baldwin]] refused to hear the case against building this "bombing school" in Wales, despite a deputation representing 500,000 Welsh protesters.<ref name="Davies_592"/> Protest against the project was summed up by Lewis when he wrote that the UK Government was intent upon turning one of the "essential homes of Welsh culture, idiom, and literature" into a place for promoting a "barbaric" method of warfare.<ref name="Davies_592"/> Construction of this military academy began exactly 400 years after the passage of the [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542]].<ref name="Davies_592"/>

On 8 September 1936, the building was set on fire and in the investigations which followed Saunders Lewis, [[Lewis Valentine]], and [[David John Williams|D.&nbsp;J. Williams]] claimed responsibility.<ref name="Davies_592"/> They were tried at Caernarfon, where the jury failed to agree on a verdict. The case was then sent to be retried at the [[Old Bailey]] in London, where "the Three" were convicted, and sentenced to nine months imprisonment. On their release from [[Wormwood Scrubs (HM Prison)|Wormwood Scrubs]], they were greeted as heroes by 15,000 Welsh people at a pavilion in [[Caernarfon]].<ref name="Davies_592"/>

[[File:Llosgi'r Ysgol Fomio - The Burning of the Bombing School - geograph.org.uk - 356846.jpg|thumb|Memorial to the ''Tân yn Llŷn'' protest in [[Penyberth]]. Saunders Lewis is the figure depicted on the right of the monument.|298x298px]]

Many Welsh people were angered by the judge's scornful treatment of the Welsh language, by the decision to move the trial to London, and by the decision of University College, Swansea, to dismiss Lewis from his post before he had been found guilty.<ref name="Davies_593"/> [[Dafydd Glyn Jones]] wrote of the fire that it was "the first time in five centuries that Wales struck back at England with a measure of violence... To the Welsh people, who had long ceased to believe that they had it in them, it was a profound shock."<ref name="Davies_593"/>

However, despite the acclaim the events of ''{{lang|cy|Tân yn Llŷn}}'' generated, by 1938 Lewis's concept of ''{{lang|cy|perchentyaeth}}'' ("home ownership") had been firmly rejected as ''not'' a fundamental tenet of the party. In 1939 Lewis resigned as ''{{lang|cy|Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru}}'' president, saying that Wales was not ready to accept the leadership of a Roman Catholic.<ref name="Davies_593"/>

Although Lewis was the son and grandson of prominent [[Presbyterian Church of Wales|Welsh Calvinistic Methodist]] ministers, he had converted to [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]] in 1932.

==Second World War==
Lewis maintained a strict neutrality in his writings through his column ''{{lang|cy|Cwrs y Byd}}'' in ''{{lang|cy|Y Faner}}''. It was his attempt at an unbiased interpretation of the causes and events of the war.<ref name="Davies_599">{{harvp|Davies|1994a|p=599}}</ref>

Outside of the party's initial position on the war, party members were free to choose for themselves their level of support for the war effort. ''{{lang|cy|Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru}}'' was officially neutral regarding involvement the [[Second World War]], which Lewis and other leaders considered a continuation of the [[First World War]]. Central to the neutrality policy was the idea that Wales, as a nation, had the right to decide independently on its attitude towards war,<ref name="Davies_598">{{harvp|Davies|1994a|p=598}}</ref> along with opposition towards the UK government's decision to involve Wales in the conflict.<ref name="Davies_598"/> With this challenging and revolutionary policy Lewis hoped a significant number of Welshmen would refuse to join the [[British Armed Forces|armed forces]].<ref name="Davies_599"/>

Lewis and other party members were attempting to strengthen loyalty to the Welsh nation "over the loyalty to the British State".<ref name="Davies_598"/> Lewis argued "The only proof that the Welsh nation exists is that there are some who act as if it did exist."<ref name="Davies_599"/>

However, most party members who claimed [[conscientious objection]] status did so in the context of their moral and religious beliefs, rather than on political policy.<ref name="Davies_599"/> Of these almost all were exempt from military service. About 24 party members made politics their sole grounds for exemption, of whom 12 received prison sentences.<ref name="Davies_599"/> For Lewis, those who objected proved that the assimilation of Wales was "being withstood, even under the most extreme pressures".<ref name="Davies_599"/>

==University of Wales by-election, 1943==
Prior to 1950, universities could elect and return representatives to the House of Commons. The University of Wales seat had become vacant when the constituency's [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] Member of Parliament, [[Ernest Evans (politician)|Ernest Evans]], had been appointed a [[County Court (England and Wales)|county court]] judge in 1942. Lewis was selected to contest the seat for Plaid Cymru in the ensuing [[1943 University of Wales by-election]].

His opponent was former Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru Deputy Vice-president [[William John Gruffydd]]. Gruffydd had been voicing doubts about Lewis's ideas since 1933,<ref name="Davies_610">{{harvp|Davies|1994a|p=610}}</ref> and by 1943 he had left Plaid Cymru and joined the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]]. His other opponent, independent candidate [[Alun Talfan Davies]], was another former member of Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru who would later become Chairman of the [[Welsh Liberal Party]].

The "brilliant but wayward" Gruffydd was a favorite with Welsh-speaking intellectuals and drew 52.3% of the vote, to Lewis's 22.5%.<ref name="Davies_610" />

The election effectively split the Welsh-speaking intelligentsia, and left Lewis embittered with politics, leading him to retreat from direct political involvement.<ref name="Davies_611">{{harvp|Davies|1994a|p=611}}</ref> However the experience proved invaluable for Plaid Cymru, as "for the first time they were taken seriously as a political force."<ref name="Davies_611" /> The by-election campaign led directly to "considerable growth" in the party's membership.<ref name="Davies_611" />

==''{{lang|cy|Tynged yr Iaith}}'' and the 1961 census==
In 1962 Lewis gave a radio speech entitled ''{{lang|cy|[[Tynged yr iaith]]}}'' ("The Fate of the Language") in which he predicted the [[language death|complete extinction]] of the Welsh language by 2000 unless immediate action was taken.<ref name="Marcus Tanner 2004 Page 212">Marcus Tanner (2004), ''The Last of the Celts'', Yale University Press. Page 212.</ref>

Lewis's radio speech was in response to the 1961 census, which showed a decrease in the percentage of Welsh speakers from 36% in 1931 to 26%, of the population of about 2.5 million.<ref name=autogenerated4>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/language/pages/1961.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609020947/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/language/pages/1961.shtml|title=BBCWales History extracted 12-03-07|archive-date=9 June 2008}}</ref> In the census the counties of Merionethshire (Meirionnydd), Anglesey (Ynys Môn), Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin), and Caernarfonshire averaged a 75% proportion of Welsh speakers, with the most significant decreases in the counties of [[Glamorgan]], [[Flint, Flintshire|Flint]], and [[Pembrokeshire|Pembroke]].<ref name=autogenerated4 /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/language/pages/1931.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609020655/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/language/pages/1931.shtml|title=BBCWales History extracted 12-03-07|archive-date=9 June 2008}}</ref>

Assuming, "a gloomy sepulchral tone", Lewis argued that the Welsh language was, "driven into a corner, ready to be thrown, like a worthless rag, on the dung heap." The responsibility for this lay, according to Lewis, less in the hands of the [[British civil service]] [[bureaucracy]] than with the timidity and indifference of the Welsh-speaking people themselves. As he had fully intended it to do, Lewis' lecture immediately touched a raw nerve.<ref name="Marcus Tanner 2004 Page 212"/>

While Lewis' had wished to shame Plaid Cymru into more direct action promoting a Welsh [[language revival]], his speech instead led to the formation of ''[[Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg]]'' (''Welsh Language Society'') later that year at a Plaid Cymru summer school held in [[Pontardawe]] in [[Glamorgan]].<ref>{{harvp|Morgan|2002}}</ref> The foundation of ''{{lang|cy|Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg}}'' allowed Plaid Cymru to focus on electoral politics, while the Cymdeithas launched a campaign of [[civil disobedience]] aimed at the State's policy of coercive [[Anglicisation]].<ref>Marcus Tanner (2004), ''The Last of the Celts'', Yale University Press. Pages 212-213.</ref>

According to Marcus Tanner, "For the first time, the British government was forced to recognise the existence of a substantial non-Anglophone culture, and to rethink attitudes that had been set in stone since [[Henry VIII]]'s so-called [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542|Acts of Union]]. The new, more conciliatory attitude began under [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]], but continued under the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]]."<ref name="Marcus Tanner 2004 Page 213">Marcus Tanner (2004), ''The Last of the Celts'', Yale University Press. Page 213.</ref>

Responding to escalating demands for [[devolution in the United Kingdom]], in 1964 the [[Labour government, 1964–1970|Labour Government]] established the [[Welsh Office]] ({{langx|cy|Swyddfa Gymreig}}) and the post of [[Secretary of State for Wales]]. The Welsh Language Bill of 1967 granted Welsh equal status to English in the legal system. Further legislation belatedly granted century-old demands for [[Welsh-medium education]].<ref name="Marcus Tanner 2004 Page 213"/>

==Later life and death==
In 1970, Lewis was nominated for the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]]. 

In March 1983, at the age of 89, Saunders Lewis was made an honorary Doctor of Letters of the University of Wales at a ceremony specially conducted at his home in [[Penarth]]. The ''[[Catholic Herald]]'', reporting the honour, noted that in the previous year Lewis had made a plea for the restoration to the [[Catholic Church in Wales]] of the [[Tridentine Mass]] in [[Ecclesiastical Latin]], rather than the [[Mass of Paul VI]] in the "foreign language of English", which he pointed out was "a later arrival".<ref>The Catholic Herald 4 March 1983</ref>

Lewis died at St Winifred's Hospital in [[Cardiff]], on 1 September 1985.<ref> [https://biography.wales/article/s10-LEWI-SAU-1893 LEWIS, JOHN SAUNDERS (1893-1985)], [[Dictionary of Welsh Biography]].</ref> Lewis' final request for a [[Tridentine Mass|Tridentine]] [[Requiem Mass]] in Ecclesiastical Latin was denied by Bishop [[Daniel Mullins]], who personally offered the [[Mass of Paul VI]] instead.<ref> [[Charles A. Coulombe]], ''A Monarchist and a Catholic: John Saunders Lewis(1893-1985)'', ''[[Mass of the Ages Magazine]]'', Summer 2024. Published by the [[Latin Mass Society of England and Wales]], pp. 44-45.</ref> Following the [[Funeral Mass]], Lewis was buried in the same grave as his wife Margaret in St. Joseph's Roman Catholic cemetery in [[Penarth]]. Lewis's medal as a [[Knight Commander]] of the [[Order of St Gregory]], to which he had been appointed by [[Pope Paul VI]], was laid on Lewis' casket during the funeral ceremony and then buried with him.<ref> [https://biography.wales/article/s10-LEWI-SAU-1893 LEWIS, JOHN SAUNDERS (1893-1985)], [[Dictionary of Welsh Biography]].</ref>

==Literary legacy==
[[File:Saunders Lewis' drama 'Amlyn ac Amig' performed by Ysgol y Gader, Dolgellau pupils (1550384).jpg|thumb|320x320px|Pupils of Ysgol y Gader in [[Dolgellau]] perform Saunders Lewis' ''[[:cy:Amlyn_ac_Amig|Amlyn ac Amig]]'' drama, 18 December 1973]]
His literary works include [[stage play]]s, poetry, novels and essays. He wrote mostly in Welsh, but he also wrote some works in English. By the time of his death in 1985 some rated him as amongst the most celebrated of Welsh writers.

Lewis was above all a [[dramatist]]. His notable plays include ''{{lang|cy|Blodeuwedd}}'' (The woman of flowers) (1923–25, revised 1948), ''{{lang|cy|[[Buchedd Garmon]]}}'' (The life of [[Germanus of Auxerre|St. Germain]]) (radio play, 1936), ''{{lang|cy|[[Siwan (play)|Siwan]]}}'' (1956), ''{{lang|cy|Gymerwch chi sigarét?}}'' (Will you have a cigarette?) (1956), ''{{lang|cy|Brad}}'' (Treachery) (1958), ''Esther'' (1960), and ''{{lang|cy|Cymru fydd}}'' (Tomorrow's Wales) (1967). His plays drew upon a wide range of material and covered a range of subject matter including [[Welsh mythology]] and [[Welsh history|history]], as well as the [[Christian Bible]], although he also wrote plays set in contemporary Wales.

Lewis also translated [[Samuel Beckett]]'s ''{{lang|fr|[[En attendant Godot]]}}'' from French into Welsh. 

Lewis' use of poetic forms in the [[Welsh language]] included both the use of the traditional [[Cerdd dafod|24 strict metre]]s in [[cynghanedd]] such as [[cywydd]]au and [[awdl]]au as well as the [[Sicilian School]]'s [[sonnet]] form, "a variety of other rhyming stanzas", and "full breathed [[free verse]]", which were derived from poetry in other languages.<ref>Translated by Joseph P. Clancy (1993), ''Saunders Lewis: Selected Poems'', [[University of Wales]] Press. Pages ''ix-x''.</ref>
[[File:Cwmni Theatr Cymru's production of Saunders Lewis' new drama, Cymru Fydd, at Bala Eisteddfod (1451487).jpg|left|thumb|322x322px|[[Cwmni Theatr Cymru]]'s production of Saunders Lewis' ''Cymru Fydd'' drama at [[Bala, Gwynedd|Bala]] [[Eisteddfod]], 1 August 1967]]
Following his conversion to the [[Catholic Church in Wales|Catholic Church]], Lewis also wrote many works of [[Christian poetry]] inspired by his new faith. These included poems about the [[Real Presence]] in the [[Blessed Sacrament]], a poem that sympathetically describes [[Saint Joseph]]'s crisis of faith, about the traumatic but purgatorial sense of loss experienced by Saint [[Mary Magdalen]] after the [[Crucifixion of Jesus Christ]], and about attending the [[Tridentine Mass]] on [[Christmas Day]].<ref>Translated by Joseph P. Clancy (1993), ''Saunders Lewis: Selected Poems'', [[University of Wales]] Press. Page ''ix''.</ref>

Lewis wrote the [[libretto]] for [[Arwel Hughes]]'s opera ''{{lang|cy|Serch yw'r doctor}}'' (Love's the doctor), based on [[Molière]]'s ''{{lang|fr|[[L'Amour médecin]]}}'' (first performance 1960 by [[Welsh National Opera]]).<ref>{{cite web|title=Serch yw'r Doctor (Love's the Doctor)|url=http://operadata.stanford.edu/catalog/10114788|work=Opening Night! Opera & Oratorio Premieres|publisher=Stanford University Library|access-date=16 May 2014}}</ref>

He published two novels, ''[[Monica (Saunders Lewis)|Monica]]'' (1930) and ''{{lang|cy|Merch Gwern Hywel}}'' (The daughter of Gwern Hywel) (1964) and two collections of poems as well as numerous articles and essays in various newspapers, magazines and journals. These articles have been collected into volumes including: ''{{lang|cy|Canlyn Arthur}}'' (Following Arthur) (1938), ''{{lang|cy|Ysgrifau dydd Mercher}}'' (Wednesday essays) (1945), ''{{lang|cy|Meistri'r canrifoedd}}'' (Masters of the centuries) (1973), ''{{lang|cy|Meistri a'u crefft}}'' (Masters and their craft) (1981) and ''{{lang|cy|Ati ŵyr ifainc}}'' (Go to it, young men) (1986).

==Political and cultural legacy==
Lewis's legacy remains a controversial one. Particularly controversial was his belief, as expressed in ''Braslun o Hanes Llenyddiaeth Gymraeg'', a 1932 outline of the history of [[Welsh-language literature]], that the [[Edwardian conquest of Wales]] was less damaging to [[Welsh culture]] and [[Welsh-language literature|literature]] in the long run than the [[Protestant Reformation]], which began under King [[Henry VIII]] with the destruction of the independence of the [[Catholic Church in Wales]] from [[Caesaropapism|control by the State]]. This was because, according to Lewis, King Henry's legacy ensured that subsequent Welsh literature was cut off by [[religious persecution]] and government [[censorship]] of the [[bard]]ic profession from their own religious past and from their previously close links to the rest of Europe.<ref>Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Pages 102-103.</ref>

This was why Lewis urged Welsh-language writers as early as 1919 to read, translate, and draw influence from literature in many other European languages, rather than, as he and many others before him had once done, only reading and emulating literature in English. This is also why he particularly recommended translating into the Welsh-language and arranging regular performances in the theatres of the best French poets and [[playwright]]s of the [[Counter-Reformation]] and the [[Baroque]] era. Despite his own [[Francophilia]], Lewis had also mentioned the importance of combatting the [[Black Legend (Spain)|Black Legend]] by exposing the [[Welsh people]] to the literary canon of [[Spanish Golden Age theatre]], whose greatest playwrights included [[Miguel de Cervantes]], [[Lope de Vega]], and [[Pedro Calderón de la Barca]]. 

Without mentioning [[Pope Gregory XI]] or his 1373 "[[règle d'idiom]]", command for the Catholic clergy to both learn and communicate with their flocks in the local [[vernacular]],<ref>Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 219.</ref> Lewis believed that the coercive Anglicisation of the [[Welsh people]] began with the [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542|Acts of Union]] passed under King Henry VIII following his break with the Holy See and commented, "it was this materialistic and pagan triumph that destroyed our Wales."<ref>Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 103.</ref> 

Explaining his preference for the era before King Henry VIII, Lewis wrote, "There was one law and one civilisation throughout Europe, but that law, that civilisation took on many forms and many colours. It did not occur to the rulers of a country to destroy another land's civilisation, even when they conquered that land... Despite being conquered, being oppressed, too, and quite cruelly, it (Welsh civilisation) grew upright and without losing the innate qualities of its culture. No doubt Wales often yearned for freedom, but did not fear losing its heritage, nor did it. Because there was one law and one authority throughout Europe, Welsh civilisation was safe, and the Welsh language and the special Welsh way of life and society."<ref>Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Pages 102-103.</ref> 

For example, historian John Davies writes that, "in a notable article", Saunders Lewis argued that the Welsh bards of the Medieval era, "were expressing in their poetry a love for a stable, deep-rooted civilization." Lewis added that the bards "were the leading upholders of the belief that a hierarchical social structure, 'the heritage and tradition of an ancient aristocracy', were the necessary precondition of civilized life and that there were deep philosophical roots to this belief."<ref name="John Davies 1993 Pages 210-211">John Davies (1993), ''A History of Wales'', Penguin Books. Pages 210–211.</ref>

Despite his many statements to the contrary, Lewis' allegedly "condescending attitude towards some aspects of the [[Nonconformity in Wales|Nonconformist]], radical and pacifist traditions of Wales", also drew extremely harsh criticism from fellow Welsh nationalists such as [[David James Davies|D.&nbsp;J. Davies]], a [[Socialism|socialist]] Plaid Cymru member.<ref name="Davies_591" /> 

Lewis, however, always insisted that his conversion to Catholicism did not keep him from understanding the sensibilities or appreciating the role played in Welsh culture by the Nonconformists. For example, he praised [[Methodism]] and [[Calvinism]] for preserving the uniqueness of [[Welsh-language literature]] and culture against the [[Anglophilia]] and [[linguistic imperialism]] favoured by the [[Victorian era]] Welsh gentry, the Government in Westminster, and the [[Church in Wales|Established Church]].<ref>Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Pages 100-102.</ref> 

Along with his careful study of what had worked and what had failed in [[Irish nationalism]], these were the real roots of Lewis' beliefs that Welsh cultural and [[language revival]], [[Christian democracy]], rural landscape conservation, and an Irish-style [[Land War]] - meaning [[direct action]] tactics intended to reduce rents and coerce an [[Land Acts (Ireland)|Irish-style breakup and sale]] of the gentry's estates to their tenants - were preferable causes for the [[Welsh nationalism|Welsh nationalist]] movement to embrace than [[socialism]] and which have attracted such extreme criticism, both during Lewis' lifetime and since his death.

In particular, D.J. Davies denounced Lewis' calls for Welsh [[language revival]] and [[cultural nationalism]]. Davies called instead for engaging the English-speaking [[South Wales valleys]]. Davies also pointed towards left-wing political parties in [[Scandinavia]] as a model for Plaid Cymru to emulate, and was accordingly far more interested in the "economic implications" of Welsh [[self-determination]].<ref>{{harvp|Davies|1994a|pp=591–592}}</ref>

Left wing historian Geraint H. Jenkins has written, "Lewis was a cold fish. His reedy voice, bow tie, cerebral style and aristocratic contempt for the proletariat were hardly endearing qualities in a political leader, and his conversion to Catholicism lost him the sympathy of fervent Nonconformists. Heavily influenced by the discourse of right-wing French theorists, this profoundly authoritarian figure developed a grand strategy, such as it was, based on the deindustrialization of Wales. Such a scheme was both impractical and unpopular. It caused grave embarrassment to his socialist colleague D.&nbsp;J. Davies, a progressive economist who, writing with force and passion, showed a much better grasp of the economic realities of the time and greater sensitivity towards the plight of working people.<ref>{{harvp|Jenkins|2007}}</ref>

During the post-[[World War II]] battles between [[Plaid Cymru]] and the [[Welsh Labour|Labour Party]] over political control of [[South Wales]], a hostile 1946 portrait mocked Saunders Lewis for thinking himself to be the "[[Jan Masaryk|Masaryk]] of Wales" and that both the [[United Kingdom]] and the very concept of [[Britishness]] would one day to collapse similarly to the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] in 1918. The same writer then sarcastically feigned sympathy for Plaid Cymru, a [[political party]] which was allegedly burdened by, "bitterness and hate and the (possibly unintentional) air of physical superiority with which only too many of its members have regarded the bulk of their countrymen."<ref name="Marcus Tanner 2004 Page 212"/>

During the 1990s, in the midst of a debate over the ''[[Government of Wales Act 1998]]'', Saunders Lewis was also accused in the [[House of Commons]] of having praised [[Adolf Hitler]] in 1936 with the words, "At once he fulfilled his promise — a promise which was greatly mocked by the London papers months before that — to completely abolish the financial strength of the [[German Jew|Jew]]s in the economic life of Germany."<ref>[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo011205/halltext/11205h02.htm United Kingdom Parliament]: Debate on ''[[Government of Wales Act 1998]]''. Retrieved 31 August 2006.</ref>

In 2001, former Plaid Cymru President [[Dafydd Elis-Thomas]] accused Saunders Lewis during a television documentary of being, "lousy as a politician, lousy as a writer, but a good Catholic".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2001/08/05/plaid-founder-blasted-91466-11220176/ |title=Plaid founder blasted |date=26 March 2013 |access-date=16 March 2016 |publisher=[[WalesOnline]]}}</ref>

In the same book, Tanner credited the famous 1962 radio lecture by Saunders Lewis with being the primary reason why the [[Welsh language]] was, as of 2004, the only one of the [[Celtic language]]s that was neither [[dead language|dead]] or [[critically endangered]].<ref>Marcus Tanner (2004), ''The Last of the Celts'', Yale University Press. Pages 212-217.</ref>

According to Tanner, "Welsh is more visible than ever before. The moment I drove across the Severn Bridge, signs written in a different language proclaimed that I had entered a different land. It was not like [[Scotland]], where [[Scottish Gaelic language|Gaelic]] bilingual signs were limited to a few Highland areas. As for the [[Bretons]] in [[Fourth French Republic|France]], they can only dream of such symbols of recognition. You can live your life in Welsh now, at least in theory. The officials of the [[London and North Western Railway|North Western Railway]], who fired workers on the line from [[Holyhead]] to [[Chester]] for their inability or unwillingness to speak English in the 1890s, would have a tough time of it now. It is the English-speaking [[monoglot]] who faces a problem in trying to work in the public sector, and the language sections of universities do a booming trade in teaching basic Welsh to English professionals who have taken up such posts. Saunders Lewis saved more than most people though possible by his stirring radio address back in 1962."<ref>Marcus Tanner (2004), ''The Last of the Celts'', Yale University Press. Page 214.</ref>

Lewis' legacy is further reflected by the fact that, even in decaying and traditionally English-speaking Welsh colliery and industrial towns and cities, [[Welsh-medium education]] is increasingly used as a means of both [[heritage language learning]] and reasserting national identity.

For this and many other reasons, Saunders Lewis was overwhelmingly voted by the [[Welsh people]] as their 10th greatest [[national hero]] in the '[[100 Welsh Heroes]]' poll, the results of which was released on [[St. David's Day]], 2004.<ref name="auto"/>

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=Saunders|translator-last1=Stephens|translator-first1=Meic|translator-link1=Meic Stephens|title=Monica|year=1997|orig-year=1930|publisher=Seren|location=Bridgend|isbn=1-85411-195-7|url=https://archive.org/details/monica00lewi}}
*Lewis, Saunders (1985–2002), ''The Plays of Saunders Lewis'', 4 vols, translated by Joseph P. Clancy. {{ISBN|0-9540569-4-9}}, {{ISBN|0-7154-0648-5}}, 0954056957, 0715406523.
*Lewis, Saunders (1993), ''Selected Poems'', translated by Joseph P. Clancy. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. {{ISBN|0-7083-1194-6}}.

==Electoral record==
Lewis contested the University of Wales Constituency on two occasions, once in the general election of 1931;{{Election box begin||title=[[1931 United Kingdom general election|General election 1931]]: University of Wales}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Liberal Party (UK)|candidate=[[Ernest Evans (politician)|Ernest Evans]]|votes=2,229|percentage=75.4|change=+11.9|}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Plaid Cymru|candidate=Saunders Lewis|votes=914|percentage=24.6|change=''N/A''|}}
{{Election box majority||votes=1,315|percentage=50.8|change=+12.2}}
{{Election box turnout||votes=3,143|percentage=|change=}}
{{Election box hold with party link||winner=Liberal Party (UK)|swing=''N/A''}}
{{Election box end}}and again in the University of Wales by-election of 1943.{{Election box begin|title=25–29 January 1943 by-election: University of Wales}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Liberal Party (UK)|candidate=[[William John Gruffydd]]|votes=3,098|percentage=52.3|change=-9.0|}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Plaid Cymru|candidate=Saunders Lewis|votes=1,330|percentage=22.5|change=''N/A''|}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Independent (politics)|candidate=[[Alun Talfan Davies]]|votes=755|percentage=12.8|change=''N/A''|}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Independent Labour|candidate=Evan Davies|votes=634|percentage=10.7|change=''N/A''|}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Independent Labour|candidate=N.L. Evans|votes=101|percentage=1.7|change=''N/A''|}}
{{Election box majority||votes=1,768|percentage=29.8|change=+7.2}}
{{Election box turnout||votes=5,918|percentage=53.4|change=-9.0}}
{{Election box Registered electors||reg. electors=11,079}}
{{Election box hold with party link||winner=Liberal Party (UK)|swing=''N/A''}}
{{Election box end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
*Griffiths, Bruce (1989), ''Saunders Lewis''. Writers of Wales series. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. {{ISBN|0-7083-1049-4}}.
*Jones, Alun R. & Gwyn Thomas (Eds.) (1973), ''Presenting Saunders Lewis''. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. {{ISBN|0-7083-0852-X}}.
*Jones, Harri Pritchard (1991), ''Saunders Lewis: A Presentation of His Work''. Illinois: Templegate. {{ISBN|0-87243-187-8}}.
* 'Lewis, Saunders (1893–1985)'. In Meic Stephens (Ed.) (1998), ''The New Companion to the Literature of Wales''. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. {{ISBN|0-7083-1383-3}}.
*Chapman, T. Robin (2006), ''Un Bywyd o Blith Nifer: Cofiant Saunders Lewis''. Llandysul: Gomer. {{ISBN|1-84323-709-1}} (in Welsh; the only complete biography).

=== Bibliography ===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Davies |first=John |author-link=John Davies (historian) |year=1994a |title=A History of Wales |publisher=Penguin |isbn=0-14-014581-8 }}
*{{cite book |last=Davies |first=John |author-link=John Davies (historian) |year=1994b |title=Broadcasting and the BBC in Wales |publisher=University of Wales Press |isbn=0-7083-1273-X }}
*{{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Geraint H. |year=2007 |title=A Concise History of Wales |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-53071-2 }}
*{{cite book |last=Morgan |first=Kenneth O. |author-link=Kenneth O. Morgan |year=2002 |orig-year=1981 |title=Rebirth of a Nation: Wales, 1880–1980 |volume=6 |series=History of Wales |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-821760-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/wales18801980reb0000morg }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
*[https://morris.cymru/testun/saunders-lewis-fate-of-the-language.html Saunders Lewis' "Tynged yr iaith" ("The Fate of the Language") lecture in English translation]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041119161045/http://www.llgc.org.uk/ymgyrchu/Iaith/TyngedIaith/index-e.htm Saunders Lewis and the "Tynged yr iaith" ("The fate of the Welsh language") lecture] from the [http://www.llgc.org.uk/ National Library of Wales] website 
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050112222105/http://www.gtj.org.uk/item.php?lang=en&id=14563&t=1 Saunders Lewis, 'The Banned Wireless Talk on Welsh Nationalism' (Caernarfon, 1930)] from the [https://web.archive.org/web/20071119123113/http://www.gtj.org.uk/ Gathering the Jewels] website.
*[http://www.hanesplaidcymru.org/filebase/llyfrynnau/1936%20Paham%20Llosgasom%20yr%20Ysgol%20Fomio.pdf ''Paham y Llosgasom yr Ysgol Fomio'' (Why we Burnt the Bombing School) by Saunders Lewis and Lewis Valentine] (1936, Plaid Cenedlaethol Cymru, Caernarfon): their speeches to the jury at the Caernarfon Assizes (in Welsh).   
* {{cite web|last1=James|first1=E. Wyn|title=Williams Pantycelyn|url=http://www.gwales.com/bibliographic/?isbn=9781783169627|website=Gwales|publisher=[[Welsh Books Council]]|language=cy}} Review of Lewis's book ''Williams Pantycelyn''

{{S-start}}
{{S-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=''New position''}}
{{s-ttl|title=Vice President of [[Plaid Cymru]] |years=1925–1926}}
{{s-aft|after=?}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Lewis Valentine]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=President of [[Plaid Cymru]] |years=1926–1939}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Edward Daniel]]}}
{{S-end}}
{{Plaid Cymru}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Saunders}}
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Welsh dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Welsh historians]]
[[Category:20th-century British male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Welsh writers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:British Christian democrats]]
[[Category:British modernist poets]]
[[Category:British traditionalist Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic Church and minority language rights]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Methodism]]
[[Category:Distributism]]
[[Category:Formalist poets]]
[[Category:Historians of Wales]]
[[Category:King's Regiment (Liverpool) soldiers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Merseyside]]
[[Category:Mythopoeic writers]]
[[Category:Leaders of Plaid Cymru]]
[[Category:Plaid Cymru parliamentary candidates]]
[[Category:People from the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral]]
[[Category:People from Wallasey]]
[[Category:Sonneteers]]
[[Category:South Wales Borderers officers]]
[[Category:Traditionalist Catholic writers]]
[[Category:Welsh Catholic poets]]
[[Category:Welsh-language poets]]
[[Category:Welsh-language writers]]
[[Category:Welsh literary critics]]
[[Category:Welsh nationalists]]
[[Category:Welsh people of World War I]]
[[Category:Welsh politicians]]
[[Category:Welsh Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Welsh World War I poets]]