Faculty and Staff
Xabier Irujo
Assistant Professor
Center for Basque Studies
University of Nevada, Reno /2322
Reno, Nevada 89557-2322
USA
irujo@unr.edu
775-682-5572
Xabier Irujo was born in exile in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1967.
Education
2011 Ph.D. in Philosophy at the University of the Basque Country with the Thesis "Philosophy of Terror"
2004 Ph.D. in History at the State University of Navarre with the Thesis "Basque exile in Uruguay (1943-1955)" (ISBN 84-777-281-9).
1998 Bachelor of Arts degree with a Major in Philosophy and a Master of Arts degree in Political Philosophy and Philosophy of Science.
1995 Bachelor of Arts degree with a Major in European History and a Master of Arts degree in European Political History.
1992 Bachelor of Arts degree with a Major in Romance Languages and Literature and a Master of Arts degree in Romance Philology (Linguistics).
Awards
2006 Andrés Irujo Award from Basque Government for the book La Sociedad de Confraternidad Vasca Euskal Erria de Montevideo related to the Basque presence in America.
1993 to 2000 Seven awards by the Social Council of the UNED for having credited yearly the best academic files at university between 1993 and 2000.
1995 & 2000 Two Poetry awards.
Employment
2006 to the present Assistant Professor at the Center for Basque Studies, University of Nevada, Reno.
2006 to the present Adjunct Instructor of Contemporary Basque Politics at Boise State University.
2005-2006 Head of the Basque Studies Program at Boise State University (Idaho).
Selected Book Chapters
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Irujo, Xabier, “Jose Antonio Agirreren erbesteko jaurlaritzaren historia laburra (1936-1960)”, in, Lau Haizeetara. Gerra Zibilaren ondorengo erbesteaz, pp. 81-146, Udako Euskal Unibertsitatea, Bilbao, 2010. ISBN: 978-84-8438-332-1.
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Irujo, Xabier; Urrutia, Iñigo, “Basque in the Foral Community of Navarre”, in, The Legal Status of the Basque Language Today: One Language, Three Administrations, Seven Different Geographies and a Diaspora, pp. 197-220, Eusko Ikaskuntza / Society for Basque Studies, Donostia / San Sebastián, 2008. ISBN: 978-84-8419-164-3.
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Irujo, Xabier, “The Biarritz American University”, in, Ascunce, José Ángel; Jato, Mónica; San Miguel, María Luisa (Coords.), Exilio y Universidad (1936-1955), pp. 149-194, Saturraran, Donostia / San Sebastián, 2008. ISBN 978-84-934455-5-3.
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Irujo, Xabier, “Erbesteko Eusko Jaurlaritzak Parisko Marceau kaleko egoitzan finkatutako politika kulturaleko ildo nagusiak (1938-1940)” (Guidelines on Cultural Policy of the Basque Government in Exile), in, Múñoz, Edurne (Ed.), Jose Antonio Agirre: proiektu kultural bat = José Antonio Aguirre: un proyecto cultural, pp. 77-91,Saturraran, Donostia / San Sebastián, 2007. ISBN: 978-84-934455-1-5.
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Irujo, Xabier, “Erbestearen zenbait alderdi soziologiko. Montevideoko atzerriko egunaria (1943-1956)”,(Sociological aspects of the Basque Diaspora), in, Ascunce, José Ángel; San Miguel, maría Luisa (Coords.), Los hijos del exilio vasco: arraigo y desarraigo, pp. 89-142, Saturraran, Astigarraga, 2005. ISBN 84-932271-9-6.
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Irujo, Xabier, “Bingen Ametzaga Aresti eta hizkuntza filosofia”(Philosophy of the Basque Language during the Exile Years in America), in, Apaolaza, Xabier (Coord.), Herri bat bidegurutzean, pp. 133-153, Saturraran, Donostia / San Sebastián, 2003. ISBN: 84-932271-8-8.
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Irujo, Xabier, “Euskara Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoan”, (The Basque Language at the Public University of Navarre), in, Euskaltzaleen Biltzarraren Mendeurrenean, Fundación Sabino Arana Kultur Elkargoa, pp. 466-481, Bilbao, 2003. ISBN: 84-883-7961-7.
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Irujo, Xabier, “José Elizalde Arzua”, in, García-Sanz Marcotegui, Ángel (Coord.), El Exilio republicano navarro de 1939, pp. 369-377, Gobierno de Navarra, Iruñea / Pamplona, 2001. ISBN: 84-235-2172-9.
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Irujo, Xabier, “Vicente Ametzaga Aresti, y la divulgación de la cultura vasca en el exilio (1937-1969)”,(Divulgation of the Basque Culture in America by Bingen Ametzaga), in,Ascunce, José Ángel; Apaolaza, Xabier; (Coords.), 60 años después, euskal erbestearen kultura, Saturraran, pp. 477-517, Astigarraga, 2000. ISBN: 84-931339-1-4.
Publications
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Basque Political Systems, |
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Ética e Instinto, 601 Ediciones, Iruñea/Pamplona, 2010. ISBN: 978-84-614-2590-7 |
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A Legal History of the Basque Language (1789-2009), Eusko Ikaskuntza/Society for Basque Studies, Donostia/San Sebastián, 2009. ISBN: 978-84-8419-196-4 |
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Bingen Ametzaga Aresti. Gutunak I (1941-1968), Utriusque Vasconiae, Donostia/San Sebastián, 2009. ISBN: 978-84-937213-5-0 |
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Bingen Ametzaga Arestiri egindako gutunak II (1939-1969), Utriusque Vasconiae, Donostia/San Sebastián, 2009. ISBN: 978-84-937213-6-7 |
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On Basque Politics. Conversations with Pete Cenarrusa, EURI, Brussels, 2009. ISBN: 978-84-613-3965-5 |
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Itzulpena erbestean, Utriusque Vasconiae, Donostia/San Sebastián, 2009. ISBN: 978-84-936384-7-4 |
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Homo Spelens, Utriusque Vasconiae, Donostia/San Sebastián, 2009. ISBN: 978-84-937213-0-5 |
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Un nuevo treinta y uno. Ideología y estrategia del Gobierno de Euzkadi durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial a través de la correspondencia de José Antonio Aguirre y Manuel Irujo, Fundación Sabino Arana, Bilbo/Bilbao, 2007. ISBN: 978-84-88379-74-0. |
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La Sociedad de Confraternidad Vasca Euskal Erria de Montevideo, (History of the Euskal Erria Basque Center in Montevideo), Servicio Central de Publicaciones del Gobierno Vasco, Gasteiz/Vitoria, 2007. ISBN: 978-84-457-2557-3. |
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La hora vasca del Uruguay. Génesis y desarrollo del nacionalismo vasco en Uruguay (1825-1960), Sociedad de Confraternidad Vasca Euskal Erria, Montevideo, Uruguay, 2006. ISBN 9974-96-095-9 |
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Itsaso aurrean, (Poems of the Basque exile in America by Bingen Ametzaga), Susa, Zarautz, 2006. ISBN 84-95511-83-5. |
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Euskal erbeste politikoa Uruguain (1943-1955). Eusko jaurlaritzaren administrazioa eta kanpo ekintza atzerrian (Administration and foreign policy of the Basque government in America during the Franco years),IVAP Institute for Basque Administration of the Basque Government, Oñati, 2005. ISBN 84-7777-281-9. |
Basque Political Systems
Authors: Pedro Ibarra Güell & Xabier Irujo Ametzaga
Publisher: Center for Basque Studies – University of Nevada, Reno
Place and year of publication: Reno, 2011
Language: English
Pages: 290
Size: 9.5 x 7 inches
ISBN: 978-1-935709-03-9
Synopsis:
Does the Basque Country have a separate "political system"? This book seeks to answer this complicated question. The Basque Country forms a differentiated cultural community that shares customs, folklore, a way of life, a language-Basque-that is among the oldest in Europe, and yet is divided between two international frontiers-the French and the Spanish states- and has major internal subdivisions, most notably between the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (the territories of Araba, Bizkaia, and Gipuzkoa) and the Chartered Community of Navarre. In the French Republic, the Basque territories of Lapurdi, Lower Navarre, Zuberoa (Iparralde) have little or no administrative separation from the centralist regime, while Hegoalde-the Basque territories on the southern side of the international frontier-has varying degrees of autonomous powers within the fitfully decentralizing Spanish state, but is split into two distinct subdivisions with different powers, relations to the central state, and historical development. An added layer of complexity is added by the supranational powers of the European Union and the Basque Country's place in it, as well as the historically important relations of the Basque Country to the members of its worldwide diaspora. And, finally, even within the various subdivisions there are important differences of opinion regarding fundamental questions such as the desire for independence or autonomy, the political violence that has marred the region, relations to national or central states, and a variety of other issues. Any attempt to impose order on this chaos is difficult, but the author's in this book try to respond to this question with a wealth of historical and political detail and insight.
Ética e Instinto
Author: Xabier Irujo Ametzaga
Publisher: 601 Ediciones
Place and year of publication: Iruñea/Pamplona, 2010
Language: Spanish
Pages: 222
Size: 7.5 x 5 inches
ISBN: 978-84-614-2590-7
Synopsis:
The study of the Basque political conflict in particular and, in general, the analysis of the problems common to minorities in the historical context of the nation-state has driven the author to study the roots of ethics in any given society and how social and political norms are generated, conceived and coined.
A Legal History of the Basque Language (1789-2009)
Authors: Xabier Irujo Ametzaga & Iñigo Urrutia Libarona
Publisher: Eusko Ikaskuntza/Society for Basque Studies
Place and year of publication: Donostia/San Sebastián, 2009
Language: English
Pages: 390
Size: 9.5 x 6.6 inches
ISBN: 978-84-8419-196-4
Synopsis:
The history of the Basque language over the last 220 years has been fraught with prohibitions and political persecution. The historical analysis of the language-related measures that affected the situation of the Basque language clearly reveals the close connection between language and power. Language, one unique language, has been considered the symbol of national unity, imposing itself over the collective will of different ethnic groups, societies and peoples different from the dominant culture. The state-building process was carried out through policies of linguistic uniformity and assimilation, whereby linguistic diversity –still nowadays- is considered as an obstacle to attain the desired political uniformity. This gives rise to policies against languages with the purpose of obtaining linguistic and social homogeneity.
Bingen Ametzaga Aresti. Gutunak I (1941-1968)
Author: Xabier Irujo Ametzaga
Publisher: Utriusque Vasconiae
Place and year of publication: Donostia/San sebastián, 2009
Language: Basque
Pages: 428
Size: 81/2 x 53/4 inches
ISBN: 978-84-937213-5-0
Synopsis:
Bingen Ametzaga Aresti (1901-1969), born in Algorta (Bizkaia), was a poet, translator, historian and politician. Despite the obstacles to write and publish in Basque from the American exile, his production is vast. His translations include The Nightingale of Errotazuri - Errotazuri'ko urretxindorra (1946), The Elixir of Father Gauchier - Gaucher aita agurgarriaren elixira (1948), Hamlet (1952), Platero and me – Platero eta Biok (1953), Prometheus Bound - Prometeu burdinetan (1959) and The Ballad of Reading Gaol - Reading Baitegiko Lelo, among other 60 works of translation. He also wrote in Castilian and, apart from the more than 350 press articles left in diverse newspapers of Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico and Venezuela, Ametzaga e wrote several history books, including The Men of the Guipuzcoan Company - Hombres de la Compañía Guipuzcoana (1963), Vicente Antonio de Icuza, Commander of Privateers - Vicente Antonio de Icuza, comandante de corsarios (1966), The Basque Element in the Eighteenth Century in Venezuela - El elemento vasco en el siglo XVIII venezolano (1966) and The Basque Man - El Hombre Vasco (1967).
This book collects the letters written by Bingen Ametzaga between 1941 and 1968. It is therefore an anthology of letters written from exile over a lifetime in America. Letters sent from the concentration camps of Sidi el-Ayachi, from these vessels that transported thousands of Basque refugees from a Europe occupied by the Nazis to countries where peoples were free and, finally, from America, mainly from Buenos Aires (1942-1943), Montevideo (1943-1955) and Caracas (1956-1968). Altogether this volume includes 272 letters, half written in Basque and half in Castilian. Together with Nicolas Ormaetxea Orixe, Jokin Zaitegi and Koldo Mitxelena, the closest partners and those to whom the largest number of letters were sent, are the brothers Andres and Manuel Irujo Ollo.
The correspondence largely reflects the aims, anxieties and fears of the Basque writers, translators and editors in the American exile and, also, shows the constraints, conflicts and dilemmas that they had to address in order to find a solution for the Basque cultural conflict, when the Basque language was facing a sharp decline due to the fact that it was banned and persecuted in the Spanish state by general Franco's dictatorial regime. Ametzaga shared his concerns with over 200 authors in the world of the Basque culture in exile, among others, Telesforo Monzon, Jesus Galindez, Jesus Maria Leizaola, Tellagorri, Pello Irujo Lontzi Ormaetxe, Norbert Tauer, Jon Mirande, Jon Bilbao, Joxe Migel Barandiaran, Xabier Landaburu, Peter Basaldua, Andoni Urrestarazu, Jose Aretxalde, Andima Ibinagabeitia, Manuel Lekuona, Andoni Ruiz de Azua, Martin Ugalde, Miguel Pelay Orozko and many other writers, politicians and lawmen. At the same time, he shared and worked with numerous American men of culture and politicians at that time such as Dardo Regules, Raul Montero Bustamante, Jose María del Rey, Justino Zabala Muniz, Oscar Secco Ellauri, Pedro Grases and Rafael Pizani, all them key figures in the development of culture and democracy in the Americas.
Bingen Ametzaga Arestiri Egindako Gutunak II (1939-1969)
Author: Xabier Irujo Ametzaga
Publisher: Utriusque Vasconiae
Place and year of publication: Donostia/San sebastián, 2009
Language: Basque
Pages: 424
Size: 81/2 x 53/4 inches
ISBN: 978-84-937213-6-7
Synopsis:
This volume collects the letters written to Bingen Ametzaga Aresti (1901-1969) between 1939, when World War Two broke out until 1969, with the student revolts in Europe and the civil rights movement in the United States, a period thirty years of exile in America.
These letters arrived in Marseille, Casablanca, Dakar, Havana, Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Caracas, that is, the places where this Basque exile family was forced to move, first escaping from the Spanish Falange and later from the Nazi horror. And it will be precisely this fact that leads to Ametzaga to create and direct a team of seven Basque secret agents in collaboration with the U.S. Office of Strategic Services responsible for pursuing and neutralizing cells of Spanish and German agents operating in Argentina and Uruguay. In the cultural sphere, the correspondence reflects the problems that the Basque writer in exile had to face at the time: lack of books of reference, lack of funds, solitude, being away from everything they loved and felt and, essentially, a deep rebellion against the unjust situation that the Basque people and Basque language under the Spanish regime of General Franco was undergoing. Nostalgia is therefore the central theme of the letters, cultural and political nostalgia and a strong feeling of homesickness.
The senders of this collection of letters written from all corners of the Americas are, among others: Jokin Zaitegi from Guatemala, Justo Garate from Tandil, Andres Irujo from Buenos Aires, Tellagorri from Havana, Gotzon Gondra from London, Manuel Irujo and Peli Irizar from Paris, Lontzi Ormaetxea from Viña del Mar, Jon Bilbao from Caracas, and, from 1967 on from Reno (Nevada), Telesforo Monzon from Mexico, Joxe Migel Barandiaran from Sara and, Koldo Mitxelena from Donostia. All these letters arrived in Montevideo and, after 1955, in Caracas. But despite the solitude and the distance, all these Basque exiled writers, thinkers and politicians created the cultural and political dense network which we call today the Basque political exile.
The correspondence is collected in this volume reflect a common work, letters written from America with the main aim of promoting a Basque cultural renaissance.
On Basque Politics. Conversations with Pete Cenarrusa
Author: Xabier Irujo Ametzaga
Publisher: European Research Institute (EURI)
Place and year of publication: Brussels, 2009
Language: English
Pages: 280
Size: 81/2 x 53/4 inches
ISBN: 978-84-613-3965-5
Synopsis:
"The Basque problem" has existed for those who have ruled the Iberian Peninsula since the days before Spain was a nation. Often described as the oldest homogeneous racial group in Europe, the Basques are closely knit and have resisted amalgamation since the first Roman legions descended upon them. They waited until the 11th century to embrace the "foreign" influence of Christianity, but when they did, they produced such illustrious Christians as St. Francis Xavier and St. Ignatius of Loyola.
(Dickson, Paul A., "Oppression in Spain", Washington Post, August 3, 1969. In, Church, Frank, "The Brave Spirit of the Basques and the Tyranny of their Persecutors." In, Congressional Records. Proceedings and Debates of the 91st Congress, First Session, Vol. 115, No 135, Washington, Friday, August 8, 1969).
This book represents an up-to-date account of the most striking aspects of Contemporary Basque Politics, from the bombing of Gernika to the last elections in 2009. While being an overview, the book provides many interesting details and little known facts of the American perspective regarding the Basque political issue and its impact in Idaho, land of grace and hope for thousands of Basque immigrants during the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries.
Pete T. Cenarrusa has served for fifty-two years in the State of Idaho, nine terms at the House of Representatives (1950-1967), in 1963, 1965 and 1967 as a Speaker of the House, and six terms as Secretary of State (1967-2002) for the Republican Party.
Itzulpena erbestean
Author: Xabier Irujo Ametzaga
Publisher: Utriusque Vasconiae
Place and year of publication: Donostia, 2009
Language: Basque
Pages: 176
Size: 81/2 x 53/4 inches
ISBN: 978-84-936384-7-4
Synopsis:
The Fascist dictatorship of generals Primo de Rivera (1923-1931) and General Francisco Franco (1936-1975) intensified the political prohibition and social exclusion of the Basque language. The Basque language was said to be useful only for domestic use. In the American exile, a group of Basque writers worked hard in the translation of classics into Basque as a way of demonstrating that what classic writers as Shakespeare, Virgil or Homer had written in English, Latin or Greek could equally be expressed in Basque. In addition, it has been said that translating is the best way of reading for the translation of a literary text imposes a double semantic and syntactic reading. In this sense, translation supposed a matchless frame to approach the difficult task of normalizing the language, of creating a unified and standard Basque language.
Homo Spelens
Author: Xabier Irujo Ametzaga
Publisher: Utriusque Vasconiae
Place and year of publication: Donostia, 2009
Language: Basque
Pages: 224
Size: 81/2 x 53/4 inches
ISBN: 978-84-937213-0-5
Synopsis:
In Tremendous Trifles, G. K. Chesterton wrote how when he was leaving for a holiday from Battersea a friend asked him where he was going. Chesterton replied: I am going to Battersea, to Battersea via Paris, Belfort, Heidelberg, and Frankfort. […] I cannot see any Battersea here; I cannot see any London or any England. I cannot see that door. I cannot see that chair because a cloud of sleep and custom has come across my eyes. The only way to get back to them is to go somewhere else; and that is the real object of travel and the real pleasure of holidays. Homo Spelens is the biography of Bingen Ametzaga Aresti (1901-1969), a Basque political exiled person in America: Secretary of primary education of the Basque Government during the War of 1936, Head of the Basque Secret Services in Uruguay during WWII, author of 7 books, nearly 500 articles and more than 60 translation works from English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Classic Greek and Latin into Basque.
La Sociedad de Confraternidad Vasca Euskal Erria de Montevideo
Authors: Xabier Irujo Ametzaga & Alberto Irigoyen Artetxe
Publisher: Eusko Jaurlaritzaren Argitalpen Zerbitzu Nagusia
Place and year of publication: Gasteiz/Vitoria, 2007
Language: Spanish
Pages: 374
Size: 10 x 7 inches
ISBN: 978-84-457-2557-3
Un nuevo treinta y uno. Ideología y estrategia del Gobierno de Euzkadi durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial a través de la correspondencia de José Antonio Aguirre y Manuel Irujo
Author: Iñaki Goiogana & Xabier Irujo Ametzaga & Josu Legarreta
Publisher: Sabino Arana Fundazioa
Place and year of publication: Bilbo/Bilbao, 2007
Language: Spanish
Pages: 952
Size: 93/4 x 7 inches
ISBN: 978-84-88379-74-0
La hora vasca del Uruguay. Génesis y desarrollo del nacionalismo vasco en Uruguay (1825-1960)
Author: Xabier Irujo Ametzaga & Alberto Irigoyen Artetxe
Publisher: Institución de Confraternidad Vasca Euskal Erria
Place and year of publication: Montevideo, 2006
Language: Spanish
Pages: 420
Size: 91/2 x 61/2 inches
ISBN: 9974-96-095-9
Itsaso aurrean
Author: Xabier Irujo Ametzaga
Publisher: Susa Liburuak
Place and year of publication: Zarautz, 2006
Language: Basque
Pages: 160
Size: 81/2 x 61/4 inches
ISBN: 84-95511-83-5
Euskal erbeste politikoa Uruguain (1943-1955). Eusko jaurlaritzaren administrazioa eta kanpo ekintza atzerrian
Author: Xabier Irujo Ametzaga
Publisher: Herri Arduralaritzaren Euskal Erakundea (HAAEA/IVAP)
Place and year of publication: Oñati, 2005
Language: Basque
Pages: 616
Size: 91/4 x 61/2 inches
ISBN: 84-7777-281-9