Ymunwch ag Ilja Nieuwland, awdur American Dinosaur Abroad: A Cultural History of Carnegie’s Plaster Diplodocus, hanes cudd deinosor gwerthfawr Andrew Carnegie a'i ddylanwad ar ddiwylliant Ewropeaidd. Ymunwch â Ilja Nieuwland am sgwrs arbennig fin nos, o dan Dippy ei hun!

Ddechrau Gorffennaf 1899, daeth tîm o balaeontolegwyr dan nawdd Andrew Carnegie o hyd i weddillion ffosil yn Wyoming. Ar y pryd dyma oedd y deinosor hiraf a mwyaf i ddod i'r fei.

Cafodd ei enwi ar ôl y noddwr cyfoethog, ac anfonwyd Diplodocus carnegii — neu Dippy i ni heddiw – i Pittsburgh. Yno cafodd ei roi at ei gilydd a'i arddangos yn Amgueddfa Hanes Natur Carnegie ym 1907. Roedd Carnegie – ac eraill – ar dân i ddarganfod mwy o ddeinosoriaid yng ngorllewin America ddiwedd y 19eg ganrif, ac roedd y cyffro yma'n cyd-fynd â'i ddyheadau ehangach ef i sicrhau heddwch ym mhedwar ban ac osgoi rhagor o ryfeloedd rhyngwladol. Roedd Carnegie yn ddyngarwr ac yn wladgarwr, ac ar gais y Brenin Edward VII, rhoddodd ei gast plastr cyntaf o Dippy i'r Amgueddfa Brydeinig ym 1902. Dyma weithred ddiplomataidd fympwyol a thros y degawd nesaf, rhoddodd o leiaf saith ail-gread arall i amgueddfeydd ar draws Ewrop ac America Ladin, yn Lloegr, yr Almaen, Ffrainc, Awstria, yr Eidal, Rwsia, yr Ariannin a Sbaen.

Cynhelir y digwyddiad hwn yn Saesneg, ond rydym yn hapus i drefnu hwylusydd Cymraeg. Er mwyn rhoi cyfle i ni drefnu hwylusydd, gofynnwn i chi e-bostio digwyddiadau@amgueddfacymru.ac.uk o leiaf wythnos cyn y digwyddiad os gwelwch yn dda.

Caiff y sgwrs ei pherfformio yn y Brif Neuadd. Bydd mynedfa'r brif yn agor am 6.30pm.

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Join Ilja Nieuwland, author of ‘American Dinosaur Abroad: A Cultural History of Carnegie’s Plaster Diplodocus’, the untold story of Andrew Carnegie’s prized dinosaur and its influence on European culture, for an exclusive evening talk under Dippy himself!

In early July 1899, an excavation team of paleontologists sponsored by Andrew Carnegie discovered the fossil remains in Wyoming of what was then the longest and largest dinosaur on record. Named after its benefactor, the Diplodocus carnegii—or Dippy, as it’s known today—was shipped to Pittsburgh and later mounted and unveiled at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in 1907. Carnegie’s pursuit of dinosaurs in the American West and the ensuing dinomania of the late nineteenth century coincided with his broader political ambitions to establish a lasting world peace and avoid further international conflict. An ardent philanthropist and patriot, Carnegie gifted his first plaster cast of Dippy to the British Museum at the behest of King Edward VII in 1902, an impulsive diplomatic gesture that would result in the donation of at least seven reproductions to museums across Europe and Latin America over the next decade, in England, Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Russia, Argentina, and Spain. In this largely untold history, Ilja Nieuwland explores the influence of Andrew Carnegie’s prized skeleton on European culture through the dissemination, reception, and agency of his plaster casts, revealing much about the social, political, cultural, and scientific context of the early twentieth century.

This is an English-language event but we are happy to provide Welsh-language facilitation. In order for us to arrange a facilitator, please e-mail events@museumwales.ac.uk as soon as possible, and at least a week before the event.

This event takes place in the Main Hall. The main doors will be open at 6.30pm.