Lawrence, Esyllt T., 1917-1995

Person

Lawrence, Esyllt T., 1917-1995

• Ferran de Pol, Esyllt, 1917-1995

Esyllt Thomas Lawrence was born in Morriston, Swansea, on 3 December 1917. She studied German and French at Newnham College, Cambridge, graduating in 1940, then married the diplomat Derek Poole, which led to her settling in Mexico City in 1943. The marriage broke down but in Mexico she met the exiled Catalan writer Lluís Ferran de Pol who she married in 1947. He was allowed to return to Catalonia in 1948 and the couple settled in his home town of Arenys de Mar; their only daughter was born that year. Over the next few decades Lawrence became the primary exponent of Catalan-Welsh relations. She translated Saunders Lewis's 'Siwan' into Catalan as La corda del penjat (Barcelona, 1962) (with her husband) and E. Tegla Davies's Gŵr Pen y Bryn as La Masio del Turo (Barcelona, 1985); with Vic John she translated Ferran de Pol's Albans de l'Alba into Welsh as Cyn y Wawr (Llandysul, 1994).
From 1989, following Ferran de Pol's retirement, the couple shared their time between Arenys and Llanbleddian, Cowbridge. She was awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi (Cross of Saint George) by the Catalan government in 1994 and died in Bridgend, 4 April 1995.

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Planet, 111, 1995 : p. 81 (Esyllt Ferran de Pol)