Zonia Bowen (23 April 1926 – 18 March 2024) was an English-born writer, linguist, and activist in Wales. The founder of the women's organisation

Merched y Wawr () is a voluntary, non-political, organisation for women in Wales. It is similar to the Women's Institute (WI) but its activities are conducted through the medium of Welsh. Its aims are to promote women's issues and to support culture, educat ...

, Bowen worked to promote the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

and Welsh culture.

Early life and education

Zonia Margarita North was born in

Ormesby St Margaret Ormesby is an area which is split between Borough of Middlesbrough and Borough of Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire, England. It is in the Middlesbrough part of the Teesside built up area. Spencer Beck to the east and the B1380 road ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, England, in 1926. She grew up in Heckmondwike,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. She studied French at

Bangor University , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

in Wales during the 1940s. While there, she began to learn Welsh for the first time, to connect with friends and neighbours. Despite her own English background, she became passionate about the Welsh language and Welsh identity. In 1947, she married the Welsh poet Geraint Bowen. They had four children; several of her grandchildren are members of the bands Plu and Y Bandana.

Activism

In 1967, Zonia Bowen founded

in response to officials not allowing the local

Women's Institute The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being th ...

branch, near

Bala Bala may refer to: Places India *Bala, India, a village in Allahabad, India * Bala, Ahor, a village in the Jalore district of Rajasthan * Bala, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India Romania * Bala, Mehedinți, a commune in Mehedinţi ...

, to operate in the Welsh language. The new women's organisation grew to a national one that continues to this day. Bowen served as the organisation's first national secretary, and as the founding editor of its ''Y Wawr'' magazine, which she ran for six years. During her time with the group, she organised several international trips for its members, including to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1975. She resigned as honorary president in 1976, severing ties with Merched y Wawr, because she had envisioned it as a secular, nondenominational organisation open to everyone, but others wanted to incorporate

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

into its activities. As a child, Bowen had been raised without religion. She was involved with the Wales Humanists, including as onetime secretary of the organisation's council, though she did not explicitly label herself as a humanist, preferring "freethinker" or no label at all. Bowen was also prominently involved in the Madryn campaign, which opposed the dumping of nuclear waste in Wales.

Writing

In addition to French and Welsh, Bowen also studied

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

, and she went on to publish the first Welsh-language Breton textbook. She also published a Welsh-language book for children about humanism. In 1991, she co-wrote a seminal history of the

Gorsedd of Bards A gorsedd (, plural ''gorseddau'') is a community or meeting of modern-day bards. The word is of Welsh origin, meaning "throne". It is spelled gorsedh in Cornish and goursez in Breton. When the term is used without qualification, it usually r ...

with her husband. She published an autobiography, ''Dy bobl di fydd fy mhobl i'', in 2015.

Death

Zonia Bowen died in 2024 at the age of 97.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowen, Zonia 1926 births 2024 deaths Alumni of Bangor University Welsh women activists Welsh women writers People from Norfolk English women activists English women writers Welsh atheists English atheists