Richard Llewellyn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Richard Llewellin.
Richard Llewellyn

Richard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn Lloyd[1][2] (8 December 1906 – 30 November 1983), known by his pen name Richard Llewellyn (Welsh: [ɬəˈwɛlɪn]), was a British novelist.[3][4]

Biography[]

Llewellyn was born in Hendon, Middlesex in 1906, [5] the oldest of three children to Welsh parents Sarah Anne née Thomas (1878–1929) and William Llewellyn Lloyd (1876–1942), a hotel clerk and later the assistant secretary to a club.[6] Only after his death was it discovered that Llewellyn's claim that he was born in St Davids, West Wales, was false.[3][7][8]

In the U.S., Llewellyn won the National Book Award for favourite novel of 1940, voted by members of the American Booksellers Association.[9]

He lived a peripatetic existence, travelling widely throughout his life. Before World War II he spent periods working in hotels, wrote a play, worked as a coal miner and produced his best-known novel. During World War II he rose to the rank of Captain in the Welsh Guards. His sister Gwladys (a Royal Red Cross commandant) and her two daughters were killed during the bombing of London, in June 1944.[10] Following the war he worked as a journalist, covering the Nuremberg Trials, and then as a screenwriter for MGM. During his lifetime, he lived in a variety of countries, including Italy, China, Brazil, Argentina, Kenya and Israel, in addition to Britain and Ireland.[11]

Llewellyn married twice: his first wife was Nona Theresa Catherine Sonsteby (1921–1988), whom he married in 1952 and divorced in 1968; his second wife was Susan Heimann, whom he married in 1974.[12]

Richard Llewellyn died of a heart attack in St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin on 30 November 1983.

Themes[]

Several of his novels dealt with a Welsh theme, the best-known being How Green Was My Valley (1939), which won international acclaim and was made into a classic Hollywood film. It immortalised the way of life of the South Wales Valleys coal mining communities, where Llewellyn spent a small amount of time with his grandfather. Three sequels followed.[3]

Llewellyn's novels often included the recurring element of protagonists who assume new identities (as they are transplanted into foreign cultures), such as the character Edmund Trothe whose adventures extend through several spy adventure books.

Bibliography[]

Edmund Trothe series
  • (1969)
  • (1970)
  • (1972)
  • (1974)

Notes[]

  1. ^ "True birthplace of Wales's literary hero". BBC News. BBC. 1999-12-05. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
  2. ^ Ruthven, KK (2001). Faking Literature. Cambridge University Press. p. 13. ISBN 0-521-66015-7.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "BBC Wales – Arts - Richard Llewellyn". BBC Cymru Wales website. BBC Cymru Wales. 28 November 2008. Retrieved 2010-04-05.
  4. ^ "Lloyd, Richard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn (1906–1983)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Sep 2004. Retrieved 2010-04-11.
  5. ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 for Richard Herbert V Lloyd, 1907, Q1-Jan-Feb-Mar: Ancestry.com (subscription required)
  6. ^ 1911 England Census for William Llewellyn Lloyd, Middlesex, Tottenham, West Tottenham: Ancestry.com (subscription required)
  7. ^ Llewellyn, Richard, 1906-1983 Archived 2013-12-12 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ What appears to be his birth certificate gives his name as Richard Herbert V Lloyd, see http://www.freebmd.org.uk
  9. ^ "Books and Authors", The New York Times, 16 February 1941, page BR12. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851–2007).
  10. ^ Llewellyn, Richard (1966). Down where the moon is small (1976 ed.). New English Library. p. 4.
  11. ^ "Richard Llewellyn Dies". Washington Post. 2 December 1983. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  12. ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 for Richard D V L Lloyd, 1974: Ancestry.com (subscription required)
Retrieved from ""