University of Nevada, Reno
Basque Center PUBLICATIONS Books Newsletter    Issue 61    Issue 60    Issue 59    Issue 58    Issue 57    Issue 56    Issue 55    Issue 54    Issue 53    Issue 52    Issue 51    Issue 50    Issue 49       Highlights       New France       Hall of Fame       Internet       UCSB       Cuisine       Publication       Grant       Durango       Lectures       Exchange       USAC News       Nekane       Linguistics       Nobel Prize       Eskerrik       Interested?     Issue 48		Basque Studies Program Newsletter · Issue 49, 1994 Hall of Fame Awards The Society of Basque Studies in America held its Thirteenth Annual Basque Hall of Fame awards ceremony on November 13, 1994 at John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks, Nevada. Honored by the Society that evening were John A. Elorriaga, Robert F. Erburu, the Unanue Family, Linda White of the Basque Studies Program, and NABO (North American Basque Organizations). Emilia Doyaga was Master of Ceremonies for the event and José Ramón Cengotitabengoa, the president of the Society, gave the welcoming address. Janet Inda, a past president of NABO, presented a fond and informative history of the organization as she introduced Robert Echeverria, President of NABO, who accepted the award on behalf of the organization. NABO was incorporated in 1974. As stated in the Hall of Fame program, “...NABO was created mainly to promote and preserve cultural, civic and social interests and activities of the Basque people, to cultivate understanding and friendship, to educate and enlighten the public in matters relating to the Basque people, to promote and advance open communication between Basques.” NABO coordinates activities that benefit all its members, including a music camp, handball tournaments, and mus tournaments. Anthony Yturri introduced John A. Elorriaga who was honored as an outstanding figure in banking and philanthropy. Elorriaga was born in Jordan Valley, Oregon, the son of Bizkaian immigrants. Strong family values and an ingrained work ethic helped Elorriaga become President of U.S. Bancorp and Board Chairman and Chief Executive of U.S. National Bank. He has received many awards over the years for his benevolent activities and humanitarian endeavors. William A. Douglass, Coordinator of the Basque Studies Program and a former inductee to the Hall of Fame, introduced Robert Erburu, civic leader and Chair and Chief Executive of the Times Mirror Company. Descended from a southern California sheep ranching family, Erburu studied journalism at the University of Southern California and earned a law degree at Harvard University. He served both as President and Chair of the Times Mirror Company, one of America’s most important corporations. He was also honored for his extraordinary record of public service. He has chaired the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the American Newspaper Publishers Association. He has directed the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. He is on the boards of seven charitable foundations, is active in the art world, serves as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Leonard Bloom, former Editor in Chief of the Journal of the Society of Basques Studies in America, introduced Joseph Unanue who accepted the award on behalf of the entire Unanue family. Honored as philanthropists and founders of the Goya Foods Company, the family’s history can be traced to the enterprising young immigrant Prudencio Unanue who sailed to Puerto Rico at the age of 18 to build his future. Within a few years he decided to move to the continental U.S. and study English and business. His customs brokerage business was wiped out in 1936 when the Spanish Civil war began. Then fifty years old, he started over again, and chose the name “Goya” for the trademark of his import business. Prudencio and his wife Catalina had four sons, Urciano, Joseph, Anthony and Frank. Joseph, the second son, joined his father in the business, Goya Foods. Goya became a household name in New York. One company now operates in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Unanue family was honored for their entrepreneurial success and for their philanthropic activities in the area of scholarships and grants to needy students. Jeronima Echeverria, current Editor in Chief of the Journal of the Society of Basque Studies in America and member of the Department of History at California State University, Fresno, introduced Linda White, Assistant Coordinator of the Basque Studies Program in Reno, Nevada. White was honored for her activities as a teacher, translator, and lexicographer of the Basque language. She entered the world of Basque Studies with a Master’s degree in Spanish in 1981, and began to study Basque that same year. She joined Gorka Aulestia on the Basque-English English-Basque dictionary project in 1982, and has taught first and second year Basque for the Basque Studies Program since 1989. Also that year she became the Assistant Coordinator of the Program, a position she still holds. In addition to the dictionary project, White has translated five books on Basque topics for the Basque Book Series of the University of Nevada Press, as well as dozens of articles, and she has authored eleven articles of her own on Basque topics. Currently she is enrolled in the tutorial Ph.D. program in Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, and plans to write her dissertation on twentieth century Basque women writers. Nugget owner John Ascuaga presented the award to John A. Elorriaga and saw to it that the celebrants and their guests had a wonderful meal and a memorable evening. The Reno Basque Club Zazpiak Bat hosted a St. Martin’s Day dance afterward.
		Copyright © 2000 the Center for Basque Studies, University of Nevada, Reno. All rights reserved. Updated 14 September 2000. E-mail: basque@unr.edu