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Ceri Giraldus Richards (1903-1971), artist, was born at Dunvant near Swansea. He studied at Swansea School of Art from 1920 to 1924 and from there won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, which he attended from 1924 to 1927. It was here that he met Frances Clayton (1901-1985) from Stoke-on-Trent; they married in 1929 and Frances herself became a distinguished painter, graphic artist, draughtswoman and illustrator. Ceri Richards continued to live in London after graduating and became a leading contributor amongst the small group of artists who were interested in the international modern movement. In 1934 Richards began to make pictorial relief constructions assembled from pieces of wood, which were highly influenced by the work of Picasso and Hans Arp; later, he would use an eclectic variety of materials in the construction of reliefs which reflected the nature of the subjects. In 1939 Ceri and Frances Richards moved to Cardiff, where Ceri taught graphic art at Cardiff School of Art. He was also at this time commissioned by the Ministry of Information to record the South Wales tin-plate workers, which he did in a series of black and white ink drawings. During the post-war years, Richards was heavily influenced in his art by the poetical works of Dylan Thomas and, from the 1950s, he also worked for much of the time in lithograph and screen print. In 1964-5 he designed stained glass for Derby Cathedral and in 1965 was commissioned to design the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at Liverpool Roman Catholic Cathedral. Richards was appointed CBE in 1960 and awarded an honourary DLitt by the University of Wales the following year. He also won the Gold Medal at the Dyffryn Maelor National Eisteddfod of 1961 and the Einaudi prize for painting at the Venice Biennale of 1962-3. Ceri Richards died in London.

(Morgan) Goronwy Rees (1909-1979) was born at Aberystwyth on 29 November 1909, the youngest child of the Rev. R. J. Rees (1868-1963), the minister of the famous Tabernacle Calvinistic Methodist chapel in the town. In 1923 the family moved to Roath in Cardiff and Goronwy Rees was educated at Cardiff High School for Boys (1923-1928) and New College, Oxford, where he graduated with first class honours in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He was elected to a prize fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford, later undertook research at Berlin, and was a leader writer on the staff of the Manchester Guardian from 1932 until 1935. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Goronwy Rees mobilized as a gunner in the 90th field regiment. He saw active service in the war years with some distinction and held a variety of occupations thereafter. In 1951 he was appointed bursar of Old Souls College, Oxford, and from 1953 until 1956 he was the Principal of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. Now Rees's relationship with Guy Burgess, whom he had first befriended in 1934, returned to haunt him, especially in 1956 when the Principal published in The People newspaper a series of quite sensational articles about Burgess's activities and his lifestyle. Such was the local outcry at Aberystwyth that Rees himself felt that he had little alternative but to resign the position of Aberystwyth Principal the following year. Subsequently, facing financial difficulties, Rees developed a successful new career as a writer and journalist. His output included two fascinating and highly readable volumes of autobiography A Bundle of Sensations (1960) and A Chapter of Accidents (1972). He also appeared on the BBC television series The Brains Trust. Following the death of his wife in 1976, Goronwy Rees died at London on 12 December 1979. The precise truth about his associations with espionage and security during the years of the Cold War will always elude historians and writers.