Dylan Marlais Thomas was born on 27 October 1914 at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive in what he was to refer to as the “ugly, lovely town” of Swansea, south Wales. His father, David John Thomas, the son of a Carmarthenshire railwayman, had gained a first class honours degree in English from University College, Aberystwyth, and, as a young man, had harboured aspirations as a poet. Frustrated in his own ambitions (he went straight from university to a secure teaching post at Swansea Grammar School), he nevertheless attempted to prime his son with the potential for poetic greatness, taking his first name from the ancient Welsh

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and his second from a bardic uncle, Gwilym Marles, who had himself taken it from the name of a river. Dylan's mother, Florence Hannah Thomas (née Williams), was one…

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Citation: Phillips, Ivan. "Dylan Thomas". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 April 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5471, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5471 Dylan Thomas 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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