Pedr Ap Llwyd

Pedr ap Llwyd is a Welsh a public servant, heritage practitioner, academic and archivist who served as CEO and National Librarian of Wales from 2016 to 2024. He previously served as the director of collections and public programmes at the National Library of Wales from 2015 to 2019 and secretary and director of governance from 2003 to 2015. He was the deputy director of the Books Council of Wales from 1990 to 2003.

Early life and career Pedr ap Llwyd was born on 20 February 1957 in Penrhyndeudraeth, Merionethshire. His mother, Blodwen Couture, came from Penrhyndeudraeth while his father came from London and could not speak Welsh. He grew up in Ardudwy and in an interview from 2019 said his upbringing was "difficult and poor", with his father mostly absent because of work while ap Llwyd and his mother faced mental illness. During his studies, he researched the Medieval court system and wrote poems for the local eisteddfod, for which he was chaired twice. From 1980, he also served as the secretary of the evangelical church in Bangor after a religious conversion.