1603: The second voyage of Sebastian Vizcaino, charged with exploring California and Baja California, ends. 1661: The first English Consul in Donostia, Valentine Morgan, is appointed to the position.
Mikel Morris, an American with dual US/Spanish nationality living in Zarautz, Spain, has written the definitive Basque-English dictionary and is currently working on the Morris Magnum which promises to be the largest bilingual Basque dictionary in existence. In the first part of this interview, Mikel shared his thoughts and hard-hitting observations on the status of […]
QUEEN SOFIA SPANISH INSTITUTE cordially invites you to a recital by Amaya Arberas, Soprano accompanied by Antón Armendariz, Tenor Ana Ruth Bermúdez, Cello & David Shenton, Piano Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. Amaya Arberas began her professional career in 2002, performing recitals throughout her native Basque Country as a lyric coloratura soprano. She […]
As many of you might already know, the Boise Basque Museum and Cultural Center, with help from the Basque Government, has been working on a project to highlight the Basques’ contributions to the history and settlement of the United States. I’ve received a number of recent messages updating me on the status of the project, […]
A couple of links I’ve been sent or found in wanderings of the web. First, Louis Arriaga Jr has a fascinating story of misunderstandings and miscarriage of justice (even one of the sentencing judges felt this way, but couldn’t do anything about it). Clearly, Arriaga is of Basque descent, though his connections to Spain are […]
About 6 years ago, Egunkaria, then the only daily newspaper published fully in Basque, was shut down on suspicions of ties to terrorists. Between then and now, no trials had occurred and it was thought that essentially the matter had been dropped. However, now, 6 years later, those who worked at Egunkaria are indeed being […]
Delphine Pontvieux, a member of the forum, has just released her novel ETA: Estimated Time of Arrest… WRONG PLACE… After participating in a pro-separatist march that turned violent in January of 1992, 21-year-old Lorenzo Lartaun Izcoa is wrongly charged with the fatal bombing of a police station in his home town. Irun is a small […]
Pedro Oiarzabal, a newly minted researcher at the University of Deusto in Bilbao, has spent his young career focused on issues of Basque identity around the world. His newest book is Gardeners of Identity: Basques in the San Francisco Bay Area, published by the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. (Incidentally, […]
A historian’s greatest challenge is to convey the excitement and drama of history. This is especially true for more obscure subjects, as the reader doesn’t already come with some emotional attachment. But this is exactly where Christine Bender excels. By using fiction as her vehicle to explore historical events, Christine is able to delve into […]
As I mentioned earlier, a couple of weeks ago, I spent a week in Munitibar, the town my dad grew up in and where his brother runs the Herriko Taberna. During that week, something like three people died, including the oldest resident of the town (who was 98). Of course, for each, there was a […]
