Ernest Gowers
Sir Ernest Arthur Gowers GCB GBE (2 June 1880 – 16 April 1966) was a British public servant, now best known for his style guides for writing the English language.
Gowers served in various branches of the British civil service, and through the 1930s was chairman of a commission charged with rationalising the production of coal. During the Second World War he was in charge of civil defence for London. He ended his public service career as chairman of a succession of official committees, the most prominent of which examined the future of capital punishment in Britain.
In 1948 Gowers was asked to write a short guide to encourage civil servants to use good, clear English. This was later expanded into The Complete Plain Words (1954), the success of which led the Oxford University Press to commission from Gowers a new edition of H.W. Fowler's Modern English Usage.