Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas _AM is a UK politician from Wales.

He is a member of the House of Lords and a former leader of the Welsh political party, Plaid Cymru.

Elis-Thomas is currently (as of 2005) also a member (representing the Meirionnydd Nant Conwy constituency) and the presiding officer (i.e.: speaker and signer of legislation) of the National Assembly for Wales. He has held the position of presiding officer since the assembly's inception in 1998.

A former university lecturer, he has also been the president of the University of Wales, Bangor since 2000, as well as currently being a member of the governing body of the Church of Wales .

He currently lives in Llandaf in Cardiff (when working at the National Assembly) and Betws-y-Coed (in his constituency), and is married to Mair Parry Jones who is head of the translation department at the National Assembly. They have three sons:

• Cai, a professional dancer;
• Meilir, who works for Barcud Derwen TV company; and
• Guto, who works for Ffilmiau'r Nant .

In his spare time, he enjoys walking in the mountains of Snowdonia and the park in Llandaf. He is also interested in films, music, pictures and cooking.

History

Lord Elis-Thomas was born in the Priory Hospital in Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire; and brought up in the Llandysul area of Ceredigion, and, later, in Llanrwst in the Conwy Valley .

He was made a life peer in 1992 having served as the UK member of parliament for the Meirionnydd constituency between 1974 and 1983, and Meirionnydd Nant Conwy between 1983 and 1992.

He was the chair of the Welsh Language Board between 1994 and 1999, and is a former member of the Welsh Arts Council and the British Film Institute where he was Chair of Screen between 1992 and 1999. He was also a director and vice-chair of Cynefin Environmental Ltd between 1992 and 1999.