Urtzi Urrutikoetxea (born 12 October 1977 in Bilbao, Biscay, Basque Country) is a Basque writer and journalist.
He has worked for the Euskal Telebista (Basque television), as well as in several publications in the Basque language, such as Euskaldunon Egunkaria , Berria , Gara , Jakin, Argia, Nora, Zazpi Haizetara and Bertsolari, among others. As a freelance writer, he has worked in different countries, like Iraq, Georgia (including Abkhazia and South Ossetia), Turkey, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Moldova, Kosovo and many European nations. Currently he lives in Washington, DC, where he writes for BERRIA and GARA. He currently works as a substitute teacher at a DC public school, where he teaches Spanish (not Basque) Humanities. During his current time at the school, he has been voted best substitute teacher there and is considered one of the most helpful and interesting people at the school according to many students. "Not only does he teach us Spanish Humanities, he also teaches us about his culture while doing so" said a student in his class. "While teaching, he also incorporates many things you wouldn't get if you went to the classroom over. He even teaches us a little Basque while he's at it!"
He has published three books of poems, one novel and one travel book (Afrika Express, 2008) in Basque, and one guidebook in Spanish about the city of Berlin, where he has lived and worked as correspondent. He has also worked as correspondent in Istanbul. Urtzi Urrutikoetxea is the translator into Basque of the Hungarian Nobel Prize Laureate Imre Kertész's Fateless and has also published in Basque a version for children of the Kurdish epic poem Mem û Zin. He has also worked in the field of bertsolaritza (oral improvised poetry in the Basque language), collaborating in different projects like the book Bizkaiko Bertsogintza IV (2006). Urrutikoetxea has been the local producer in the Basque Country and translator in some audiovisual projects, such as the documentary An Independent Mind (2008), by Rex Bloomstein, and the report by Gundars Reders in Latvia TV (2008). He was also (2012-2021) the President of the Euskal PEN [1] / Basque PEN Club. Actually, he is the Chair of the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee of PEN International.
Berria is the only daily newspaper published wholly in the Basque language and which can be read in the entirety of the Basque country. It was created after the closure of the previous Basque language newspaper, Egunkaria, by the Spanish government, after being accused of having ties with ETA.
Standard Basque is a standardised version of the Basque language, developed by the Basque Language Academy in the late 1960s, which nowadays is the most widely and commonly spoken Basque-language version throughout the Basque Country. Heavily based on the literary tradition of the central areas, it is the version of the language that is commonly used in education at all levels, from elementary school to university, on television and radio, and in the vast majority of all written production in Basque.
Korrika is a biennial event in the Basque Country that creates awareness of AEK's adult Basque language curriculum and Basque language, and is also a fund raiser; AEK is an adult education organisation for the teaching of Basque language. It is one of the largest demonstrations gathering support for a language in the world, and the longest relay race worldwide, with 2,700 kilometres in 2024, running day and night without interruption for 11 days. The Korrika is celebrated beyond its fundraising goal, encouraging, supporting and spreading the Basque language itself.
José Luis Álvarez Enparantza, better known by his pseudonym Txillardegi, was a Basque linguist, politician, and writer. He was born and raised in the Basque Country, and although he did not learn the Basque language until the age of 17, he later came to be considered one of the most influential figures in Basque nationalism and culture in the second half of the 20th century. He was one of the founders of ETA, but in 1967 he left because he did not agree with its political line.
Laura Mintegi Lakarra is a Basque author, politician and a professor at the University of the Basque Country. Although she was born in Navarre, she moved to Biscay at an early age and has lived there ever since; first in Bilbao and later in Algorta.
Joxe Azurmendi Otaegi is a Basque writer, philosopher, essayist and poet. He has published numerous articles and books on ethics, politics, the philosophy of language, technique, Basque literature and philosophy in general.
Iñaki Goirizelaia, PhD is a full professor of Telecommunication Engineering at the University of the Basque Country in the Department of Communication Engineering. In 1981 he began his work as a professor at the Faculty of Engineering of Bilbao. He is the former President of the University of the Basque Country (2009–2017). Previously, he was Vice-president of the Campus of Biscay of the same university (2005–2008).
Mariasun Landa Etxebeste is a Spanish writer. Most of her literary production has been developed in the Basque language in the field of children's and young people's literature. She is one of the writers in Basque language more translated to other languages.
Joanes Urkixo Beitia is a Basque language writer, and film and television writer.
Joan Mari Torrealdai Nabea was a Basque writer, journalist and sociologist. He was a member of Euskaltzaindia. He was born in Forua, Biscay, Basque Autonomous Community, Spain.
Ahotsak (Voices) is a women's platform for peace in the Basque Country created in March 2006 following the announcement of the ETA ceasefire, with the aim of delegitimizing violence and demanding dialogue and the development of political projects by exclusively peaceful and democratic means.
Women in the Basque Nationalist Party in Francoist Spain were involved in leadership positions from an early period. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) was founded prior to the Second Spanish Republic in Bilbao, as a conservative Roman Catholic organization. They initially tried to be neutral during the Civil War, but later more openly opposed Nationalist forces. This led to repression and investigation after the war of women PNV members, and wives and daughters of male PNV members. Emakume Abertzale Batza, PNV's women political section, was operated in exile in this early period.
Joxe Pernando Barrena Arza is a Basque politician, former member of the Parliament of Navarre and member of the European Parliament for Spain.
Joseba Agirreazkuenaga is a researcher and historian. He is specialist in the history of the Basque Country particularly: the crisis of the Ancien Régime; the fueros, self-governance, the economic concert between Spain and the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country and its fiscal system, and the social movements both in Bilbao and in the Basque Country as a whole.
Gotzone Sagardui is a Spanish politician affiliated with the Basque National Party. From September 2020 to June 2024 she served as Minister of Health in the Third Urkullu Government led by Iñigo Urkullu. She previously served as city councillor in Bilbao from 2017 to 2020, also serving as deputy mayor from 2019. She was a Member of the Basque Parliament from 2016 to 2017. She holds a degree in Medicine from the University of the Basque Country.
Antonio "Tony" Diestro Pájaro is a painter from the Philippines. Born in Manila, he studied Fine Arts and then took complementary courses at the University of the Philippines (1970), at the University of Bilbao, ar the University of the Basque Country (1983), and also researched the art and culture of the Philippine tribes Ifugao, Hanunoo, B'Iaan and T'Boli (1988).
Arantza Urkaregi is a mathematician, union organizer, and feminist politician. Within mathematics, she writes, researches, and teaches predominantly about statistics. With regards to her political work, she was involved in the communist party in Basque and the early feminist movement there.
16th-century Basque literature begins with three authors considered classics: Joan Perez de Lazarraga, Bernard Etxepare and Joanes Leizarraga. In the manuscript of the first of them, discovered in 2004, the influence of the traditional court lyric, the Italian novela pastoril and the popular Basque templates can be observed. In the case of Etxepare, often compared to the Archpriest of Hita, the influence of French literature has been mentioned. Regarding Leizarraga, translator into Basque of the New Testament and other works on religious themes, he stands out for his attempt to find a unified language—a concern of many of the later authors—and for his use of cultured verbal forms and compound sentences, nonexistent in written literature up to that time.
Izar Algueró Txibite is a Spanish film, theater and television actress, singer, bertsolari and dancer.
Miren Amuriza Plaza is a Spanish bertsolari and Biscayan writer. She has collaborated with some music groups, singing and writing lyrics. In 2017, she was the recipient of the Premio Igartza.