Elaine Morgan, The Descent of Woman

A Welsh Heroine

Elaine Morgan was born in Pontypridd in 1920 and educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she read English. She was a lecturer for the Workers' Educational Association until 1945, after which she became a freelance writer. Her early reputation was established as a playwright and screenwriter, but in 1972 the publication of "The Descent of Woamn" placed her in the international limelight.

It was a best seller and followed by "The Aquatic Ape" (1982), "The Scars of Evolution" (1990), "The Descent of the Child" (1994), and "The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis" (1997).

These books caused great controversy at the time, that she should dare to question opinions expressed by experts in the field. But that didn't stop her expressing her opinions on chat shows and in interviews.

She successfully adapted works for BBC Wales television, such as "How Green was my Valley" (1976), and "The Life and Times of Lloyd George" (1980).

More recently she lived in Mountain Ash in the Welsh Valleys and was a regular contributor to the Western Mail newspaper.

Elaine Morgan died July 2013, aged 92.

picture copyright of "Great Thoughts Treasury."