From Patagonia to Aberystwyth

Tue, 19 Aug 08 15:33:00

The publications were donated to the President of the National Library, Dafydd Wigley and the Librarian, Andrew Green at the National Eisteddfod in Cardiff by the Mayor of Gaiman, Gabriel Restucha.

 

Gabriel was elected Mayor in November 2007 and he is the first Welsh-speaking mayor of the town since 1964. Despite his Italian surname, he has strong Welsh roots; his grandmother was from Aberdare and his grandfather from Llanuwchllyn near Bala. The 36 year old Mayor re-learnt Welsh and is responsible for installing bilingual, Welsh and Spanish signs in the town which is located in the Argentine province of Chubut.

 
Gabriel presented a selection of publications about the province of Chubut, the province which includes the Welsh colony formed in 1865 by Michael D. Jones. The publications are a gift from the government of the province and are a token of the close relationship which now exists between Wales and Chubut.

 

These publications will be an important addition to the National Library’s already extensive archives relating to the Welsh community in Argentina. The Library is also one of the stakeholders in the glaniad.com project which digitises archives of the Welsh community in Patagonia and Argentina.

 

 

Links:

 

• Glaniad.com
• Report on Gabriel Restucha’s visit to the Eisteddfod on the BBC Cymru’r Byd website (Welsh)
• Report on Gabriel Restucha’s visit to the Eisteddfod on the Daily Post  website (English)

For further information:

 

Siôn Jobbins, NLW Press Office: 01970 632 902  sion.jobbins@llgc.org.uk