Ioan Bowen Rees (13 January 1929 – 4 May 1999) was a Welsh poet, mountaineer and political activist.

Born in Dolgellau, Rees studied at the grammar school, then at Bootham School in York. He won a scholarship to Queen's College, Oxford, before becoming a solicitor working for Denbighshire County Council. He became active in Plaid Cymru, and stood unsuccessfully in Conway at the 1955 and 1959 general elections, then in Merthyr Tydfil in 1964.[1][2]

Rees worked for local government in Lancashire, Cardiff and Pembrokeshire before returning to Gwynedd, where he was Chief Executive from 1974 until 1991.[1][2] An advocate of localism and environmentalism, he wrote Government by Community as a critique of the planned changes to local government enacted in the Local Government Act 1972;[1] this won the Royal Institute of Public Administration's Haldane Medal.

Later in life, Rees compiled an anthology, The Mountains of Wales, and he became a druid of the Gorsedd in recognition of his Welsh-language poetry.[1] He was on the advisory council for the creating of the National Assembly for Wales, but died shortly before it opened.

Rees' son, Gruff Rhys, became a well-known musician with the Super Furry Animals.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Jim Perrin, "Ioan Bowen Rees", The Guardian, 7 June 1999
  2. 1 2 Meic Stephens, "Obituary: Ioan Bowen Rees", The Independent, 7 May 1999
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