Introducing the Diversity Project of the Dictionary of Welsh Biography
- The aim of the Diversity Project is to improve representation of the overall diversity of Wales’s history, with a particular focus on gender, ethnicity and renewed thinking about empire, colonialism and slavery.
The current situation
- The Dictionary of Welsh Biography (DWB) has been in need of revision for some time as a result of advances in scholarship. Changes in attitudes and the Black Lives Matter movement make our updates particularly pressing. The DWB’s Diversity Project looks at the treatment of racial issues and Wales’s part in the history of the British Empire.
- At present, the DWB contains short biographies of over 5,000 people who have made a significant contribution to society in Wales or further afield. Despite a general increase in new articles on women, gender balance remains one of our priorities. In addition, we wish to highlight gender and sexual identities. Likewise, the DWB has not always represented disabled people appropriately.
Changes to the Dictionary of Welsh Biography
- Thanks to new funding through the Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan, we will undertake the following work:
- Correcting and adding factual information and sources to existing articles
- Rewriting articles on sensitive topics and controversial figures, such as Thomas Picton and Henry Morton Stanley
- Writing new articles on people previously omitted
- Historically, it has taken a long time for individual articles to get published in the DWB. However, through targeted research and a series of community and writing workshops, we aim at speeding up the time it takes from identifying names to commissioning, writing and publishing new biographical articles.
- For more information about eligibility criteria for individual people or group articles, please consult our About page.
Articles already published
- Abdullah Ali Al-Hakimi (c.1900-1954)
- Albert de Belleroche (1864-1944)
- Dorothy Noel 'Dorf' Bonarjee (1894-1983)
- Rachel Elizabeth (Betty) Campbell (1934-2017)
- Alexander Givvons (1913-2002)
- Kate Bosse-Griffiths (1910-1998)
- Yehudit Anastasia (Ida) Grossman (Judith Maro) (1919-2011)
- Barnett Janner, Baron Janner (1892-1982)
- Eldra Mary Jarman (1917-2000)
- Marged vch Ifan (Margaret Evans; 1696-1801?)
- Mervyn Montague Levy (1914-1996)
- Samuel Levi Phillips (originally Samuel Levi) (c.1730-1812)
- Paul Radmilovic (1886-1968)
- John Roberts (Alaw Elwy, also called 'Telynor Cymru') (1816-1894)
- Paul Leroy Robeson (1898-1976)
- Frances Batty Shand (c.1815-1885)
- Arnold Alonzo 'Kid' Sheppard (1908-1979)
- Vittorio Giorgio Andre Spinetti (1929-2012)
- Enrico Stennett (1926-2011)
- Clive Sullivan (1943-1985)
- Frances (Fanny) Williams (?1760-c.1801)
- Y teulu Wood (since the eighteenth century)
- John Ystumllyn (d.1786)
Articles needed
If you are interested in writing an article on anyone in this list or know of a person not yet listed but deserving an article, please contact us.
Subjects
- Activism
- Art, Design and Architecture
- Business and Industry
- Education
- Law
- Literature
- Medicine
- Music
- Politics
- Religion
- Scholarship
- Science
- Sport
- Theatre, film and television
- Other
Activism
- Robinson John Actie (1898-1951)
- Dr Krishnalal Datta (1890au-19??)
- Jessie Donaldson (nee Heineken) (1799-1889)
- Rufus Elster Fennell (1887–1974)
- Isabelle Foulkes (d. 2019)
- William Hall (Nineteenth century)
- Ken Jones (1930-2015)
- Angela Kwok (c.1950s-2016)
- Jim Mansell (1953-2012)
- Dualeh Mohammed (Aftaag) (nineteenth and twentieth centuries)
- Aaron E. Mossell (1863–1951) [Rebecca Eversley-Dawes]
- Jim Nurse (fl. 1920s-30s)
- Harry O’Connell (g. 1888)
- Dr. Dipak Ray (1930-2012)
- David (Daoud) Rosser-Owen (1943-2021)
- Alan Sheppard (Twentieth century)
- Ada Vachell (1866-1923)
- Olwen Watkins (19??-2019)
Art, Design and Architecture
- Arthur Giardelli (1911-2009)
- Hubert von Herkomer (1849-1914)
- Joseff Herman (1911-2000)
- Frederick Könekamp (1897-1977)
- Heinz Koppel (1919-1980)
- Karel Lek (1929-2020)
- Mary Lloyd (1819-1896)
- Giuseppe Rinvolucri (1894-1963)
- Elisabeth de Saedeleer (1902-1972) [Caterina Verdickt]
- Valerius de Saedeleer (1867–1941)
- Maria Sax Ledger (1916-2006)
- Andrew Vicari (1932-2016) [Ceri Thomas]
- Frances Elizabeth Wynne (1836-1907)
- Ernest Zobole (1927-1999)[Ceri Thomas]
Business and Industry
- Montague Black (1917-1986)
- Ely Devons (1913-1967)
- Albert Gubay (1928-2016)
- Robert Maurice Marcel Hourmont (1925-2008)
- André Hue (1923-2005)
- Henry [Heinz Justus] Kroch (1920-2011)
- Caesar Picton (c.1755-c.1836)
- Teulu Pollecoff (mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century) [Nathan Abrams]
- John Batty Shand (c.1804-77)
- Jacob Sugarman (Twentieth century)
- Teulu Wartski (Since mid-nineteenth century) [Nathan Abrams]
Education
- Louis Barnett Abrahams (1839-1918)
- The Congo House/African Institute students, Colwyn Bay (1880's-1910's)
- William Hughes (1856-1924)
- Benjamin Payne (1847-1926) and Florence Payne (d. 1921) [Alison Bryant]
- Charles Rhind (1813-1888) [Alison Bryant]
Law
- Cardiff Race Riots victims (d.1919)
- Gwen ferch Ellis (c.1542-1594)
- Ruth Ellis (1925-1955)
- Henry Joseph (Harry) Ernest (1929-2023)
- Iris De Freitas (1896-1989)
- Mahmood Hussein Mattan (d.1952)
Literature
- Dannie Abse (1923-2014) [Katherine Fender]
- Tony Bianchi (1952-2017)
- Leonora Brito (1954-2007)
- Jane Cave (1754?-1812)
- Elin Evans (Elen Egryn) (1807-1876)
- Hyman Kaner (1896-1973)
- Martha Llwyd (1766-1845)
- Dorothy Miles (née Squire) (1931-1993) [Sarah Wheeler]
- Solomon Nutry (c.1791-1854)
- Fanny Price-Gwynne (1819-1901)
- Bernice Rubens (1928-2004)
- Lily Tobias (1887-1984)
Medicine
- Hans Lichtenstein (1927-2019)
- Dietrich Wessel Linden (fl.1746-1768) [Rita Singer]
- Kunnathur Rajan (19??-2021)
- Joseph Stone (born Silverstone) (1903-1986)
Music
- Ronald Cass (1923-2006)
- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)
- Mahala Davis (Twentieth century)
- Francisco (Frank) Antonio Deniz (1912-2005)
- José (Joe) William Deniz (1913-1994)
- Laurence (Laurie) Richard Deniz (1924-1996)
- Patti Flynn (1937-2020) [Bet Davies]
- Gene Latter (Arthur Ford) (19??-2004)
- Henry Victor Parker (Saunders) (1910-1978)
- Adelina Patti (1843-1919)
- Harold Rubens (1918-2010)
Politics
- Leopold Abse (1917-2008)
- Mohammad Asghar (1945-2020)
- Mohamed Hanef Bhamjee (1946-2022)
- Maurice Edelman (1911-1975)
- Abdulrahim Abby Farah (1919-2018) [Azim Ahmed]
- John Darwin Hinds (19??-1981) [Azim Ahmed]
- Elvira Gwenllian Payne (nee Hinds) (1917-2007)
- Arnold Silverstone (Baron Ashdown) (1911-1977)
- Henry Edward John Stanley, 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley and 2nd Baron Eddisbury (Abdul Rahman Stanley) (1827-1903)
- Stefan Terlezski (1927-2006)
Religion
- Emilia Louise Baeyertz (née Aronson) (1842-1926)
- Rev. Rai Bhajur (c.1870s-19??)
- Isaac Cohen (1914-2007)
- Myer Cohen (1905-1997)
- Shoshir Mukhi Das (1868-1921)
- Evan Jones (1788-1872) [Robert Humphries]
- Thomas Patrick Kane (1849-1918)
- Youhannah El Karey (c.1844-19??)
- Rabbi Asher Grunis (1877-1937)
- Shaykh Said Ismail (1930-2011) [Azim Ahmed]
- Peter Jones (Kahkewāquonāby) (1802-1856) [Brian Gettler]
- Robert Owen Pugh (Istachtonka) (1846-1922) [Robert Humphries]
- U Larsing (1838-1863)
- David Michael (Eighteenth century)
- Anirudh Gyan Shikha (Anwar Shaikh; born Hajji Muhammad Shaikh) (1928-2006)
Scholarship
- Merryl Wyn Davies (1948-2021)
- StClair Drake (1911-1990)
- Myra Evans (née Jane Elmira Rees) (1883-1972) [Peter Stevenson]
- Hermann Ethé (1844–1917)
- Montefiore Follick (1887-1958)
- Raymond Garlick (1926-2011) [Jason Walford Davies]
- Leopold Kohr (1909-1994)
- Neil Sinclair (1944-2019)
Science
- Samuel Devons (1914-2006)
- The Massey Sisters (nineteenth and twentieth centuries)
- Dorothea Eliza Smith (1804-1864)
- Caroline Catharine Wilkinson (née Lucas) (1822-1881)
Sport
- Thomas (Tommy) Hubert Best (1920-2018)
- Cyril George Cupid (1908-1965) [Barry Jenkins]
- Colin Dixon (1943-1993)
- James Ernest (1891-1980)
- Joe Erskine (1934-1990)
- Roy Francis (1919-1989)
- Johnny Freeman (1934-2017)
- Christopher (Chris) Alexander Hallam, MBE (1962-2013)
- David Henry Jacobs (1888-1976)
- Eddie Parris (1911-1971)
- Howard Passadoro (1871-1921)
- Guido Roffi (1924-1973)
- Cuthbert Taylor (1909-1977)
Theatre, film and television
- Michael Bogdanov (1938-2017)
- Roger Rees (1944-2015)
Other
- Amos Brown (1856 or 1864-1956) [Rebecca Eversley-Dawes]
- Ernest and Uriah Burton (Twentieth century)
- Mary Carryl (d. 1809)
- Gwladus Ddu (thirteenth century)
- Justina Jeffreys (1787-1869)
- Elizabeth Peke Davis Kaumualii (1803-1860)
- Jane Leonard (Siani pob man) (1834-1917) [Peter Stevenson]
- The Ladies of Llangollen: Sarah Butler and Eleanor Ponsonby (1739-1829; 1755-1831) [Norena Shopland]
- James (Jim) Sapoe John Mannay (1928-2012)
- Eliza Pughe (c.1831-1850)
- Thomas Rigby (c.1780s-1841)
- Giuseppi Ruggier (alt. Guzzepi Ruggier, Joe Rogers) (nineteenth century)
- Ellen Vaughan (Ellen Gethin; Ellen ferch Dafydd ap Cadwgan ap Phylip Dorddu) (fifteenth century)
- Nathaniel Wells (1779-1852) [Anne Rainsbury]