Basque Fact of the Week, History

Basque Fact of the Week: Basques and Costa Rica

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At the end of June, my wife, my daughter, and I did an ecotour of Costa Rica. We did and saw lots of awesome things, from wildlife (the goal was to find frogs and we saw a lot of them, as well as bats, tapir, monkeys, and crocodiles), whitewater rafting, ziplining, waterfalls, cocoa and coffee tours… it was jam packed. But one thing we didn’t see a lot of was Basque names. We see them everywhere in New Mexico, but not so much in Costa Rica. It made me curious about the Basque history of this beautiful country…

Bust of Diego de Artieda Chirino y Uclés (photo found on diver.net).
  • While what would become Costa Rica was first encountered by Christopher Columbus in 1502, and many settlers tried to colonize the region in the name of the Spanish crown in later years, it wasn’t until 1573 that Costa Rica was established as its own province – the Province of Costa Rica – separate from that of other larger entities such as the Kingdom of Guatemala, replacing the Province of Nuevo Cartago y Costa Rica. In that year, Diego de Artieda Chirino y Uclés was authorized by King Felipe II to “discover and settle the province called Costa Rica.” Artieda was from Esparza de Salazar (Espartza Zaraitzu in Euskara), a small town in Nafarroa. His parents were Pedro de Uclés and María Enriquez Chirino. He was charged with founding at least three cities, one of which – Artieda del Nuevo Reino de Navarra – didn’t last long. He also founded the city of Esparza (today Esparta) in 1578. In 1577 he was named governor for life of Costa Rica, until he was deposed in 1589. He died a year later in Guatemala City.
  • Two Basque families figured prominently in the early history of Costa Rica. The first is the Retes family. Jerónimo de Retes Salazar was born in 1560 in Bilbao to Pedro de Retes and Doña Petronila Lloredo. He married María de Ortega in 1595 and died young, in 1596, in Cartago, Costa Rica. His son, Jerónimo de Retes y López de Ortega, was an important military man and explorer of the region. He was captain of the militia and later Alguacil Mayor of Cartago. He subdued two kings of the indigenous Votos, Pocica and Pisiaca, and explored the Cutrís and Jovi rivers (today San Carlos and Sarapiquí). He was a very active merchant and continued to make excursions into indigenous areas, trying to capture slave labor. His daughter, Doña Ana de Retes, sold some of the land she inherited from her father which later became the site of the city of Santa Ana.
  • The second family was the Echavarría Navarro. Juan de Echavarría Navarro was born in sometime in the late 1580s in Spain. He became treasurer of Costa Rica until 1632 when he died at a relatively young age. He had married María de Sandoval. Their son, also named Juan, married the previously-mentioned Doña Ana de Retes. Juan, the junior, was mayor of Cartago for a few years. He obtained weapons and ammunition to protect the city and region against pirates. Two of his brothers, Domingo and Francisco, became priests.
  • By the 18th century, the economic fortunes of these families had declined. However, connections to the Basque Country remained strong. The women descended from these “first” families often married emigrants from the Basque Country, men like Domingo Inza and Lorenzo de Arburola Irribaren from Gipuzkoa, Luis Fernando de Liendo y Goicoechea from Bizkaia, and Esteban de Hoses from Nafarroa. Thus, through these networks with the Basque Country, Basques continued to be an important part of Costa Rican society and politics.
  • However, the cultural impact of the Basque immigrants to the region is less visible. There was a fronton in San José, the capital. Beti-Jai opened in 1904. This fronton is now the headquarters of the Technological Institute of Costa Rica stands .A second, named Jai-Alai, opened in 1929. This second one was built by two Basque brothers – Ángel and Serafín Makúa. Serafín, an architect, also was involved in the construction of frontons Havana, Mexico City, San Salvador, and Guatemala City. However, Jai-Alai lasted only a decade before it was converted to a skating rink and then a police station, before being demolished to make way for an artist market. The club Campestre Español, in Belén, opened a fronton in 2002.

Primary source: Quirós Vargas, C., Velázquez Bonilla, C., & Payne Iglesias, E. (2004). Los Vascos en la República de Costa Rica. Análisis de su posición social, económica y mentalidad colectiva. Siglos XVII y XVIII. Revista Del Archivo Nacional, 68, 117-139. 

Adventures of Maite and Kepa, Buber's Basque Story

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 111

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“What now?” asked Maite, as she finished her coffee and placed the empty cup on the table.

“Well,” said de Lancre, “I thought I might show you some of the most amazing parts of the city, the parts that the average person never gets to see. The real heart.”

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!

“That does sound fascinating.” Maite stood up. “Do you mind if I freshen up before we go?”

“Of course not,” replied de Lancre. With a wave of his hand, a few spherical drones flew in to clean up the table. “Take your time, we are in no hurry.”

Maite murmured a thanks as she made her way back to her room. Once inside, she nearly collapsed against the wall. 

“What am I going to do?” she thought to herself. “Kepa probably thinks I’m dead. But, instead, I’m stuck here with a madman.”

She went to the bathroom. The large pod loomed in the corner. She shook her head, disappointed there was no sink for her to splash some water on her face. Remembering how she felt after using the pod earlier, she stripped down and entered the pod. A few minutes later, she stepped out, feeling rejuvenated. She wasn’t quite sure what the pod did, but she felt like she had just had the best combination of a massage, spa treatment, and shower all rolled into one.

She decided to go with something more understated and practical to wear, picking out tight leggings and a long-sleeved shirt that fell past her buttocks. It almost reminded her of the workout outfits people wore in the eighties, though without so much color. She looked into the mirror (at least they still had mirrors!), sighed, and made her way back to the patio.

De Lancre was standing at the railing, looking over the city. He turned as he heard her footsteps. “If I may say so, you look stunning.”

Maite blushed but said nothing as she approached the railing. Trying to ignore de Lancre, she focused on the view. Buildings reached as far as she could see. There seemed to be no boundary to the city. There was no rural countryside. A pang went through her as she realized that there would be no more baserriak, no more farm houses. However, she did see that the buildings were intertwined with trees and plants. She could hear the call of birds as they flew between the buildings as if they were in a forest canopy. The city itself was as green as any forest she had seen. It was as if the city had pulled surrounding nature into itself.

“The way the city melds with nature…” she began.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

“How do you plan all of this?”

“I – we – don’t plan anything, to be honest,” said de Lancre as he turned, leaning on the railing, to look at Maite. “There is a a central AI that controls all of this, directing the swarms of nanobots to do the actual work.”

“Who controls the AI?” asked Maite.

De Lancre shrugged. “No one? To be honest, I don’t really know. It was already in place when I got here. I’ve just helped guide it a bit, that’s all.”

Maite shook her head in disbelief. “You let computers control everything. That’s our worst nightmare where and when I’m from. Is it… alive?”

“I don’t know. Maybe? I don’t know enough to be able to answer that. Remember, I am from a time where we didn’t even have running water. While I’ve lived literally hundreds of lives since then, most of them are in bubbles where I haven’t had a chance to learn these things myself.”

Maite turned back to the view of the city and watched as another building disappeared in front of her eyes. The awe she felt before was replaced, at least in part, by a sense of dread.

If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net if you want to get in touch with me.

Basque Fact of the Week, Sports

Basque Fact of the Week: Jai Alai

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Jai alai has been called the world’s fastest sports game and, indeed, the fastest clocked ball, at 188 miles per hour, is from a jai alai player (though golf balls have been clocked at over 217 miles per hour). Since 1920, at least four players have died from being hit by the ball, or pelota. The strange visuals of the sport, involving a long wicker basket that players use to throw the ball against the front wall, has captured the imagination of many. The game’s popularity soared in the United States in the 1970s, along with its association with gambling.

Jai alai players in Florida. Photo from Le Courrier de Floride.
  • Jai alai grew out of other forms of pelota when, in 1857, Juan Dithurbide started selling wicker baskets to replace the leather gloves then being used. Alberto Alcorta Tellechea further modified the baskets to be worn instead of held. From there, the sport took off. It was an official sport of the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, though that was the only time it held that honor.
  • Almost from day one, jai alai has been associated with gambling and the two have ever since held an intertwined history. The sport was popular in US cities such as Chicago and New Orleans until those cities banned gambling. Cuba boasted the first fronton in the Americas, built in 1901, but jai alai was banned by Fidel Castro when he took power in 1959. The sport was even played in China until the communist party, again concerned about the associated gambling, banned the sport. In the United States, jai alai is still played in Florida where betting on the sport is legal.
  • In the United States, the popularity of jai alai peaked in the 1970s. In 1975, Miami Jai Alai hosted some 15,000 spectators. But, as you can see from this timeline, jai alai’s popularity soon declined as other options for gambling, including the lottery and casinos on Native American lands, became more prevalent and popular.
  • Jai alai was also the backdrop to some very dark intrigue. Roger Wheeler, the newly minted owner of World Jai Alai in Miami, was found dead, shot in the head, in his car on May 27, 1981. It turns out that World Jai Alai was being used in an embezzling scheme and Wheeler found out about it when he became owner. The gang was skimming on the order of $10,000 per week from parking lot revenues. The infamous Whitey Bulger was one of the men associated with Wheeler’s murder, which was featured on the first-ever episode of Unsolved Mysteries.
  • Jai alai witnessed the longest strike in professional sports history in the United States, lasting from 1988 to 1991. Players, mostly Basques, picketed the frontons as they were replaced by relatively inexperienced players.
  • Famed novelist Ernest Hemingway proposed a plan to help the Allied efforts during World War II. He would pretend to be fishing on his boat, Pilar. With him would be jai alai players he recruited from Cuba. They would sit aboard his boat and toss grenades at the German U-boats. He proposed this plan to the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), who were skeptical but who gave him just enough weaponry to placate the writer. In the end, he encountered only one U-boat, but was unable to engage it. It doesn’t seem any jai alai players were part of his activities in the end.

Primary sources: The Shrouded Mystery of Jai Alai, Weebly.com; Jai alai, Quartz; Jai alai, Wikipedia

Basque Fact of the Week, Food

Basque Fact of the Week: Otorduak, Meals of the Day

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There is a scene in one of The Lord of the Rings movies when one of the hobbits is shocked that the human doesn’t know what second breakfast is. The scene always makes me think of the Basque Country; when I go there, it seems I never stop eating. Food is such an important part of the Basque culture, not only to fill bellies but to bring people together – meals are a big part of social life.

Lunch with my dad’s family in Amorebieta back in 2012. I think they “made” me eat three whole rabbits that day…
  • Like most western cultures, there are three primary meals each day. The day starts with breakfast – gosari or barausi. In the Basque Country, this often consists of a drink – coffee or tea for adults and milk or juice for children – and some kind of cereal or pastry, though sometimes eggs or ham might make its way to the breakfast plate. According to Larry Trask, gosari comes from the word gose, meaning hunger. The suffix –ari is often associated with meals, so this is the meal of hunger.
  • The middle of the day, usually between 12 and 4pm, is broken up with lunch – bazkari. Timing is slightly different in Iparralde compared to Hegoalde: in the north, influenced by French customs, lunch is typically from 12-2, while in the south it is more often from 1-3. Lunch is by far the biggest meal of the day in the Basque Country. Trask relates this word to baratu, a Basque word for stop.
  • And, the last meal of the day is afari – dinner. In Hegoalde, dinner is usually pretty late, particularly by standards in the United States: dinnertime ranges from 9pm to midnight (I’ve sat down to eat more than once after midnight in the Basque Country). Trask’s etymological dictionary highlights sorgin-afari, used in Bizkaia, which is a dinner eaten by women celebrating the last social gathering of the winter and sorgin-apari, from Gipuzkoa, a light midnight supper eaten while building a lime-kiln. Of course, sorgin means witch. While afari has that same –ari ending, the meaning of the root has been lost, though some of related it to gau, the word for night.
  • But, that’s not all! Hamaiketako or hamarretako – literally meaning the meal of 11am or 10am, respectively – is a light meal that is eaten between breakfast and lunch, typically at 10 or 11am, as the name suggests.
  • And, not to be outdone, there is an afternoon meal as well: askari, arratsaldeko, or merienda. This is another light snack, often a sandwich, to bridge the gap between lunch and dinner.

Primary reference: Otordu, Wikipedia; Etymological Dictionary of Basque, by R. L. Trask, edited for web publication by Max W. Wheeler

Adventures of Maite and Kepa, Buber's Basque Story

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 110

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Kepa wasn’t sure what time it was when he woke up. If there was a way to access the time in his room, he couldn’t find it. And, while he suspected the pod next to his cot was meant to help him with his… bodily functions… he couldn’t figure it out either.

He approached his door, the sphere in his hand, and it silently opened. The big circular room had about the same number of people as before – maybe ten to fifteen – but they were scattered in different parts of the room at different tables. He scanned the room and saw Latxe sitting at one of the tables with a couple of other people, a man and a woman.

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!

He approached the table. Before he got there, Latxe looked up. “Kepa!” she greeted him enthusiastically. “How did you sleep?”

“Good,” admitted Kepa. “Um…” he began and paused. “Could I talk to you for a minute?” He looked at the other two at the table. “In private?”

Latxe shrugged and stood up. She and Kepa walked a few steps away. “Zer gertatzen da?” she asked. “What’s up?”

Kepa looked sheepishly at his feet. “I… I can’t figure out how to use the toilet,” he mumbled.

Latxe smiled, explained to him how the pod worked, and let Kepa find his way back to his room. A few moments later he returned, completely groomed and refreshed. He sat at the table.

“That was amazing!” he said. 

“What?” asked the other woman. She was blond, with her hair cut short and various patterns that didn’t mean anything to Kepa cut into the stubble. 

“The toilet!” exclaimed Kepa.

The woman looked at Latxe. “What’s he on about?” 

“He’s never seen one of our pods before,” she said. 

“Seriously?” asked the man, who was probably shorter than Kepa but much more muscular. He had longer dark hair that fell past his shoulders. “Where did you come from where you didn’t have a pod?”

“The countryside…” began Kepa before Latxe interrupted him.

“He’s been away for many years, in what used to be the United States, living off the land and all.”

The man nodded as if he understood. “That’s cool!” he said. “I’ve always thought about trying that.”

Kepa looked around the room. “What happened to the door we came in?” he asked, noticing there was just a blank wall.

“It’s gone,” said Latxe matter of factly. “Like it never existed.”

“How?” stammered Kepa.

“Nanobots,” said Latxe. “They are everywhere, they build everything and destroy everything. They clean up our waste. They tend our gardens. They do everything.” She held up a small tablet about the size of her palm. “With this, we can control a small cluster of them, within a few meters. We can get them to do what we want, like create a door out of nothing.”

“And make it disappear,” added the other woman.

“Wow!” said Kepa, just staring at the blank wall. “This time is so amazing!”

Latxe, the woman, and the man exchanged questioning glances. 

“This time?” asked Latxe.

If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net if you want to get in touch with me.

Misc

Ancient “bear-dog” Fossils Named After Basque Cyclops

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Gerard Ezcurra sent me this cool article about the discovery of extinct carnivore predators that inhabited the Pyrenees (as well as other parts of the world) some 7-8 million years ago. These bear-dogs are not related to neither bears nor dogs, but have characteristics of both. Fossils discovered in the Pyrenees point to maybe a new genus of the species, which the researchers named Tartarocyon, after the Tartalo, a monstrous cyclops-like being from Basque folklore. Pretty cool!

The Tartarocyon bear-dogs, Artwork by Denny Navarra and found on LiveScience.com.
Basque Fact of the Week, History, People

Basque Fact of the Week: Luis de Unzaga, the Basque Who Coined the Phrase “United States of America”

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History is full of characters that, while not always highlighted in our text books, made seminal contributions that certainly impacted the course of events. In the early days of what would eventually become the United States of America, numerous Basque were behind the scenes, working in official capacities for France and Spain, aiding the American effort against the British. Luis de Unzaga was one of those Basques, over his life governing several regions of Spanish America.

Portrait of Luis de Unzaga y Amézaga when he was Capitán general de Venezuela, from Wikipedia.
  • Luis de Unzaga y Amézaga was born in 1717 to a prominent Basque family in the southern Spanish city of Málaga. He was the son of the mayor of the Alcazaba of Malaga, Francisco de Unzaga-Amézaga Aperribay; the grandson of the alderman of Bilbao, Tomás de Unzaga Gardoqui (Diego Gardoqui was a cousin) and great-grandson of the royal commissioner and paymaster of the Navy, Francisco de Unzaga Beraza. On his mother’s side (Juana Paniza Ladrón de Guevara), he was the grandson of Luis de Paniza-Ladrón de Guevara, captain of the coast of Granada, and great-great-grandson of the philanthropist and founder of schools in Lombardy, Luigi de Paniza. Coming from a military family, he himself joined when he was only 13 and in 1732 was part of the reconquest of the Algerian city of Oran.
  • Unzaga was the fourth Spanish governor of Spanish Louisiana, which had become part of the Spanish empire in 1762 after the Treaty of Fontainebleau. He served from 1769 to 1777, when the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain. He wrote George Washington, calling him “General of the United States of America.” Washington so liked this phrase — the United States of America — that it became the new name of what until then had been called the 13 colonies.
  • Unzaga used his powerful family connections to help the fledgling nation, particularly by alerting Washington to the movement of British troops. He created a spy network that helped him deliver, clandestinely, five tons of gunpowder up the Mississippi River that was used in the defense of Fort Pitt. Before that, in 1772, he had sent a merchant, one Juan de Surriret, to New York to collect intelligence on British activities, in an effort to understand threats against Spanish holdings in the Americas. With his superior, Antonio María de Bucareli, he used Cuba’s fishing fleet to both gather and transmit intelligence.
  • Unzaga was instrumental in the transition from French to Spanish rule in Louisiana. He tried to bolster New Orlean’s exports and promoted lumber and cotton industries that would benefit the region for many years. And he turned around Louisiana’s treasury.
  • While in Louisiana, he married Elizabeth St. Maxent, daughter of Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent who was the wealthiest man in Louisiana. They had one daughter.
  • After completing his service in Louisiana, Unzaga became Captain General of Venezuela in 1777 and, in 1783, governor of Cuba. He retired to Málaga, serving as Lieutenant General of the General Command of the coasts of Granada. He died in 1793.

Primary sources: Luis de Unzaga, Wikipedia (English); Luis de Unzaga y Amézaga, Wikipedia (Spanish); Luis de Unzaga y Amézaga, Real Academia de la Historia; The Role of the Basques in the US War of Independence, About Basque Country

Random Bits of Basqueness

Random Bits of Basqueness

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Just got back from a great trip to Costa Rica, where we encountered a few Basque names (though not as many as I might have expected): Soul’s Beauty by Ana Mendieta, Lubricentro y Repuestos Chaverri, Bolívares from the República Bolivariana de Venezuela (Bolibar is a Basque name, and both are named after Simón Bolívar), Ferretería Nanan Zúñiga, and a recycled plastic bottle, with water from Echeverria springs, which is also used in local beer.

Adventures of Maite and Kepa, Buber's Basque Story

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 109

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Kepa walked through the door. The inside of the large room was nondescript. It was a large circle, with a row of doors that ran its circumference. Inside the circle were various tables and chairs.It reminded Kepa of a cafeteria as much as anything. Everything was white: the walls, the tables, the chairs, even the doors. A few people were scattered, sitting in twos and threes, at some of the tables, but for the most part, the large room was empty. Kepa didn’t see any computer screens or any of the technology that defined the cavernous operations center they had just escaped.

“This is the baserri?” he asked Latxe as she led him across the room to a desk that sat directly opposite to where they had entered.

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!

“Bai,” she responded. “We call it the baserri because of its simplicity. It doesn’t have any of the fancy equipment, to minimize our chances of detection. It’s a waystation, if you will, a place for us to regroup after events like earlier.”

“You mean, that happens often, when they find you?”

Latxe shrugged. “I wouldn’t say often, but certainly more often than we would like. Fortunately, they haven’t found this place.”

“Yet.” A large black man sat behind the desk. The left side of his face was heavily scarred and Kepa noticed that his left arm seemed different somehow. The coloring wasn’t quite the same as his right arm. He wore a simple white shirt and what looked to Kepa like blue jeans. “But they will,” continued the man, “someday.”

“It’s good to see you too, Jorge!” Latxe went around the desk and gave the man a hug. “It’s been a while, but I see you are still your same grumpy self.”

“Someone has to be,” said Jorge roughly, though a hint of a smile peaked through as he spoke. “You fools are too reckless out there.”

Latxe shrugged. “We aren’t going to change things hiding all the time.”

Jorge grunted. “Just wish I could be out there with you all, I guess.”

“You know we need you here.”

“Yeah, yeah…” began Jorge before cutting himself off. He looked over at Kepa. “And who is this? I don’t recognize you.”

“This is Kepa,” said Latxe. “Olatz recruited him and his friend, Maite. Maite was captured in the raid.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Jorge, genuine concern in his voice.

“Mari… I mean Olatz said we’ll get her back,” said Kepa.

“I’m sure we’ll try,” said Jorge in a way that left Kepa unsettled. But before he could question what Jorge meant, Jorge had pulled two spheres out of the desk. “Rooms 103 and 156 are available,” he said as he tossed a sphere to each of them. “Olatz isn’t here yet, but she always likes to take the long way. She should be here soon.”

“Mil esker, Jorge,” said Latxe as she led Kepa back into the common area. “It’s been a long day,” she said. “Go get some rest. When Olatz gets here, we’ll figure out what to do next.”

Kepa nodded absently as he looked at his sphere. 156. He found the door to his room, about halfway around the circle from the desk to the now-missing door they had come through. As he approached his room, the door automatically opened and he stepped inside. The door silently closed behind him. It wasn’t a big room, but it was clean, almost sterile. There was a cot and a strange pod next to it, large enough for him to step inside. He ignored the pod and collapsed on the small cot. Within moments, he was fast asleep.

If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net if you want to get in touch with me.

Basque Fact of the Week, Euskadi, People

Basque Fact of the Week: Julen Zabaleta, Master Drawer

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Eneko Ennekõike, who is passionate about his home town of Eibar, told me about Julen Zabaleta, a long-time resident of Eibar who died at the age of 101 a few months past. Julen lived through the Spanish Civil War and World War II. He saw the world change dramatically over the last 100 years, with the advent of computers, television, and the internet. Through it all, he documented the people and places of Euskal Herria with his pens and pencils, memorializing the buildings and traditions that are a key part of the Basque Country’s charm, identity, and history.

A drawing of a street in Eibar by Yulen, found on EgoIbarra.eus.
  • Julen, or Yulen as he was known artistically, was born in Elgoibar on February 14, 1921. However, he lived most of his life in the nearby town of Eibar, moving there in 1951 when he got married to Hortensia San Martín (he once said that while God determines where a man is born, his wife determines where he lives). He was the oldest of five children born to Telesforo Zabaleta and Josefa Barrenetxea. Telesforo worked as a mail carrier, driving a six-horse cart to deliver mail between towns. He would also take various goods and, sometimes, bathers who wanted to visit the baths in Altzola.
  • Yulen began his professional life in the forges of Elgoibar, but after his military service, he worked as a designer and draftsman for many of the local companies. He would draw the parts of machinery, in perspective, so that others could put the machines together. Even after retirement, he kept working. He couldn’t stop. He would say that the body is lazy, and it needs movement.
  • His love of drawing began at an early age. When he was six years old, his father gave him a pencil and he was drawing ever since. When he was nine, he was at a cousin’s house, who had an encyclopedia, which he opened to a photograph of a horse and began drawing. He was mostly self-taught, practicing into the late hours in his bedroom. Over his lifetime, he drew some 8,000 pictures, mostly historical buildings of the Basque Country and the occupations and traditions of the past. A PDF of one of his books filled with drawings of Goierri can be found here.
  • His passion for buildings began with towers in Gipuzkoa, and then to hermitages. He learned the history of the buildings he drew. A lot of hermitages, for example, were built by Basques who had gone to America and made their riches, returning with gold teeth and building the hermitages to share their fortune with their countrymen.
  • To celebrate his 100th birthday, and the 675th anniversary of Elgoibar, released a book entitled Yulen 100 urte in early 2022, to go with an exhibition of the same name from the previous year. Yulen died on February 26, 2022, at the age of 101.

Special thanks to Eneko Ennekõike for teaching me about Yulen.

Primary sources: 100 urte, milaka irudi, Barren 1190, 02/12/2021; Julen Zabaleta, marrazkilaria: “Igarri barik etorri zaizkit 100 urteak, entretenituta egon naiz orain arte,” eta kitto!; Julen Zabaleta ‘Yulen’ hil da, eta kitto!