William Graves, Trustee of the Fundación Robert Graves, has been awarded an MBE for services to British culture and literature in Spain in the New Year Honours List, published on Thursday 31st December 2020.
William has worked to ensure the success of the Robert Graves House, a museum based in the village of Deya, Mallorca. The museum is dedicated to his father, the writer and poet Robert Graves, and sees around 6000 visitors a year. William’s dedication to the museum in a voluntary capacity for over 15 years, has helped to create a cultural legacy that promotes British literature and culture in Spain, and has served as a hub for many events celebrating British literature in the Balearic Islands.
HMA Hugh Elliott said: “William is an example of what a life’s work of devoted time and care can create. He has helped to cultivate a hugely important legacy for English literature and an amazing resource for those studying the work of Robert Graves, as well as those learning the English language and its literature in Spain. I know the museum is very highly valued by many people.”
William Graves said: “I am both honoured and amused to receive this most unexpected and unmerited award. It stems both from being Robert Graves’s Literary Executor and from my love of Mallorca. As trustee of the Robert Graves Foundation and director of his house in Deya, I am involved with the Council of Culture of Balearic Government, and I do anything I can to help. After almost 75 years on the Island I speak Mallorquín better than most!”
The three UK nationals named in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List are:
An MBE to Mr William GRAVES, Trustee of the Fundación Robert Graves ‘For services to British culture and literature in Spain’
An MBE to Ms Michelle Marie STEWART, Operations Manager, Consular Contact Centre, Malaga, Spain. ‘For services to British nationals overseas’
A British Empire Medal (BEM) to Mr Barry HAMILTON, President and Director of Training, FAST (Medical Emergency Responders), Camposol, Mazaron, Spain. ‘For services to British nationals in Spain’