Athro cyntaf Adran y Gymraeg ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe – neu Coleg y Brifysgol, Abertawe, fel yr oedd – oedd Henry Lewis (1889-1968). Derbynodd Cadair y Gymraeg ym 1921, blwyddyn yn unig ar ôl sefydlwyd y Brifysgol, a pharhaodd i ddysgu ac ymchwilio yn Abertawe hyd at ei ymddeoliad ym 1954. Fe’i adnabyddwyd ef fel un o’r academyddion blaenllaw a ddatblygodd astudiaethau’r iaith Gymraeg a’i llên yn yr ugeinfed ganrif.
Fel llawer o ysgolheigion o’i genhedlaeth, amharodd y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf ar ei yrfa academaidd. Tra wasanaethu yn y Gwarchodlu Cymreig a’r Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig, parhaodd i drafod iaith a diwylliant Cymru yn gyhoeddus trwy erthyglau a llythyrau argraffwyd yn Y Darian, Y Brython, ac Y Beirniad. Bu hefyd yn cadw dyddiaduron trwy gydol y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf, arferiad a gadwodd am weddill ei oes.
Roedd Henry Lewis yn gredwr gryf mewn waith allgyrsiol. Bu’n aelod o sawl bwrdd cyhoeddus, pwyllgor, a chymdeithas wirfoddol gyda’r nod o wella bywyd addysgol, crefyddol a diwylliannol Cymru. Ymhlith y gofnodion a’r erthyglau swyddogol, mae’r casgliad hwn hefyd yn cynnig golwg fwy personol, trwy eitemau megis albwm ffotograffau o wersyllfeydd cyntaf Urdd Gobaith Cymru yn Llangollen a Llangrannog.
Bydd papurau Henry Lewis yn adnodd ymchwil gwerthfawr i unrhyw un sydd â diddordeb mewn datblygiad y Gymraeg fel disgyblaeth academaidd, ac yn y profiad Cymraeg o’r Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf. Mae’r papurau yn y casgliad hwn hefyd yn cynnig mewnwelediadau i fywyd academaidd a diwylliannol Cymraeg yn ei ddydd, yn ogystal â chipolygon ar brofiadau personol dyn a fu’n byw trwy newidiadau gwefreiddiol yr ugeinfed ganrif.
Mae’r catalog cyflawn bellach ar gael ar-lein.
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Henry Lewis (1889-1968) was the first Professor of Welsh at Swansea University – or University College, Swansea, as it then was. He accepted the Chair of Welsh in 1921, just one year after the University was founded, and continued to teach and research at Swansea until his retirement in 1954. His academic career placed him among the front rank of scholars who transformed the study of Welsh language and literature in the twentieth century.
Like many young scholars of his generation, Lewis’s academic career was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War. While serving with the Welsh Guards and, later, the Royal Welch Fusiliers, he remained active in public debates about Welsh language and culture, submitting articles and letters to be published in papers such as Y Darian, Y Brython, and Y Beirniad. He also kept diaries throughout the First World War, a habit he maintained for the rest of his life.
Courtesy of the Richard Burton Archives, Swansea University
Lewis was a strong believer in extra-mural work and contributed his efforts to many organizations aimed at furthering the cause of Welsh educational, religious and cultural life. As well as the minutes and articles recording his activities in these fields, some of the items in this collection offer more personal glimpses, such as an album of photographs from the early Urdd Gobaith Cymru camps at Llangollen and Llangrannog.
The papers of Henry Lewis are a valuable research resource for anyone interested in the Welsh experience of the First World War and the development of Welsh as an academic discipline. They also offer wider insights into the Welsh academic and cultural life of his day, as well as glimpses of the personal experiences of someone who lived through the profound social changes of the early twentieth century.
The full catalogue is now available online.