2001 in Wales
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| See also: | List of years in Wales Timeline of Welsh history
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This article is about the particular significance of the year 2001 to Wales and its people.
Incumbents
- Prince of Wales – Charles
- Princess of Wales – vacant
- First Minister – Rhodri Morgan
- Secretary of State for Wales – Paul Murphy
- Archbishop of Wales – Rowan Williams
- Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Meirion Evans
Events
- 1 March – Peter Clarke is appointed Children's Commissioner for Wales.
- 1 June – Official opening of Cardiff Bay Barrage.
- 7 June – In the UK general election:
- Plaid Cymru retain a total of 4 seats. They lose Ynys Môn to Labour but Adam Price gains Carmarthen East and Dinefwr from Labour's Alan Williams.
- Newly elected Labour MPs include Hywel Francis (Aberavon), Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside), Wayne David (Caerphilly), Ian Lucas (Wrexham) and Chris Bryant (Rhondda)
- Kevin Brennan replaces Rhodri Morgan as MP for Cardiff West.
- 16 June – Entrepreneur Terry Matthews is knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.
- 11 July – Welsh language pressure group Cymuned is launched at a meeting in Mynytho.
- 1 August – Coleg Harlech Workers' Educational Association (North Wales) is created through the merger of The Workers' Educational Association (North Wales) and Coleg Harlech.
- 16 September – To commemorate "Glyndwr Day", actress Siân Phillips unveils a memorial statue to Catrin Glyndŵr in London.
- 26 October – A memorial service to celebrate the life of Harry Secombe is held at Westminster Abbey and attended by Charles, Prince of Wales.
Arts and literature
- 15 March - Julien Macdonald is chosen as fashion house Givenchy's new designer.
- 24 March - Opening of the exhibition Let Paul Robeson Sing! in Cardiff.
- 15 December - Rob Brydon wins Best TV Comedy Actor award in the British Comedy Awards.
- 25 December - Matthew Rhys and Tom Ward star in a TV adaptation of The Lost World.
- John Bourne establishes the Wrexham Stuckists group of artists.
- Jessica Garlick makes the last ten in the first series of Pop Idol.
- Andrew Vicari sells a collection of 125 paintings of the First Gulf War to Prince Khaled of Saudi Arabia for £17 million.
- Irish photographer Paul Seawright is awarded a personal chair by the University of Wales, Newport.
Awards
- Prix Hélène Rochas - Rebecca Evans
- Cardiff Singer of the World - Marius Brenciu
- Glyndŵr Award - John Meirion Morris
National Eisteddfod (held in Denbigh)
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Mererid Hopwood (first woman ever to win the Chair)
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Penri Roberts
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - Elfyn Pritchard
- Wales Book of the Year:
- English language: Stephen Knight - Mr Schnitzel
- Welsh language: Owen Martell - Cadw dy ffydd, brawd
- Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen -
New books
English language
- Malcolm Pryce - Aberystwyth Mon Amour
- Alastair Reynolds - Chasm City
- Jon Ronson - Them: Adventures with Extremists
- Carole Seymour-Jones - Painted Shadow: The Life of Vivienne Eliot, First Wife of T.S. Eliot
Welsh language
- Gwynfor Evans - Cymru o Hud
- Tudur Dylan Jones - Adenydd
- Angharad Tomos - Cnonyn Aflonydd
Music
- Feeder - Echo Park (album)
- Hilary Tann - The Grey Tide and the Green, commissioned for the Last Night of the Welsh Proms and performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes
- Catatonia - Paper Scissors Stone (album)
- Goldie Lookin' Chain - Don't Blame the Chain (album)
- Melys - Chinese Whispers (album)
- Terris - "Fabricated Lunacy" (single) and Learning to Let Go (debut album)
Film
- John Rhys-Davies makes his first appearance as Gimli in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
- Sara Sugarman writes and directs Very Annie Mary, featuring Welsh stars such as Jonathan Pryce, Kenneth Griffith, Matthew Rhys, Ioan Gruffudd, Mary Hopkin and Ruth Madoc.
- Rhys Ifans co-stars in The Shipping News.
- A Bollywood film, Mein Dil Tujhko Diya (I Gave You my Heart), is shot in Aberystwyth and the Elan Valley.
- In Gosford Park, Jeremy Northam plays a fictionalised version of Ivor Novello. Several of Novello's songs feature in the film's soundtrack.
- Nia Roberts stars in A Day Out.
Welsh-language films
- Against the Dying of the Light
- Y Delyn
Broadcasting
Welsh-language television
- Y Stafell Ddirgel (drama serial)
English-language television
- The Bench
Sport
- Football - Liverpool F.C. win the FA Cup the first time it is played in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
- Snooker - Mark Williams wins the China Open.
Births
- 23 March - Dream Alliance, racehorse
Deaths
- 11 January - Lorna Sage, critic, 57 (emphysema)
- 20 January - Crispin Nash-Williams, mathematician, 68
- 18 February - Claude Davey, Wales international rugby union captain, 92
- 22 February - Cledwyn Hughes, Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos, former Secretary of State for Wales, 84
- 11 April - Sir Harry Secombe, singer and comedian, 79
- 16 April - Henry Morgan Lloyd, clergyman, 89
- 26 April - Dafydd Rowlands, minister and writer, 69
- 30 April - Brian Morris, Baron Morris of Castle Morris, poet, critic and politician, 71
- 25 May - Delme Bryn-Jones, operatic baritone, 67
- 10 June - Samuel Ifor Enoch, theologian, 86
- 17 July - Val Feld, the first member of the Welsh Assembly to die, 53 (cancer)
- 19 July - Roderic Bowen, MP, 87
- August - Valerie Davies, Olympic swimmer, 89
- 19 September - Rhys Jones, archaeologist, 60
- October - John Owen, television writer (suicide)
- 6 December - Eryl Stephen Thomas, former Bishop of Monmouth and of Llandaff, 91
- 7 December - Ray Powell, MP, 73