Sir John Rhys

John Rhŷs (1840–1915) was a Welsh scholar of Celtic language, history and folklore. The son of a farmer in Cardiganshire, he trained as a schoolmaster, then studied at Oxford and in Germany and became an inspector of schools in Wales before being elected in 1877 the first Professor of Celtic at Oxford. From 1895 he was Principal of Jesus College. His Lectures on Welsh Philology, Celtic Britain (1882), Celtic Heathendom, Studies in the Arthurian Legend and Celtic Folklore: Welsh and Manx (1901) laid the foundations of Celtic studies in Britain. He was knighted in 1907 and served on royal commissions on Welsh land and education.