File LZ12/25 - University appointments: Prof. Hywel D. Lewis's open letter to Lord Edmund Davies in Barn,

Hywel David Lewis (1910-1992), philosopher and theologian, was born in Llandudno and educated at Caernarfon Grammar School and the University College of North Wales, Bangor, where he graduated with first class honours in Philosophy (1932) and was awarded an MA Wales (1934). He subsequently studied at Jesus College, Oxford, where he gained a BLitt. Oxon (1935). He returned to Bangor in 1935 as an assistant lecturer, and became a full-time lecturer the following year. In 1947 he was awarded the Chair of Philosophy which he held until 1955 when he was appointed Professor of History and the Philosophy of Religion at King's College in the University of London. He became a Fellow of King's College in 1963, and retired in 1977. Professor Lewis married Megan Elias-Jones in 1943 (d.1962), and married his second wife, Megan Pritchard, in 1965. He lived for most of his life in Guildford. Hywel D. Lewis was visiting lecturer and professor at various American institutions, among them Yale (1964), and Harvard Divinity School (1963). In addition, he held numerous offices including the presidencies of the Mind Association (1948-9), the Aristotelian Society (1962-3), the Society for the Study of Theology (1964-6), and the International Society for Metaphysics. Hywel D. Lewis was a prolific author of books, articles and poetry in both English and Welsh. His publications include Morals and the New Theology, Morals and Revelation, Our Experience of God, The Philosophy of Religion, The Elusive Mind, The Self and Immortality, The Elusive Self, Gweriniaeth, and Y Wladwriaeth a'i Hawdurdod, together with numerous contributions to philosophical journals. Professor Lewis was also the editor of the Muirhead Library of Philosophy (1947-78), Contemporary British Philosophy, and the Journal of Religious Studies. The honorary degrees of DD, DLitt, and DLitt (Honoris Causa) were conferred on him by the University of St Andrew's (1964), Emory University, Atlanta, (1978) and the Geneva Theological College (1989) respectively. Hywel D. Lewis was also an honorary member of the 'Phi Beta Kappa' society and of the Gorsedd of Bards of the Isle of Britain, and an honorary vice-president of the Federation Internationale de Societes de Philosophie.