Sir Ernest (Arthur) Gowers

Sir Ernest (Arthur) Gowers
(1880-1966)

British civil servant, and author of an influential work on English usage. He studied at Cambridge, and was called to the bar in 1906. After a distinguished career in the civil service, he wrote Plain Words (1948) , ABC of Plain Words (1951) and The Complete Plain Words (1954) in an attempt to maintain standards of clear English, especially in official prose.