 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Basque. (February 2014)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Sabino Arana | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Sabino Polikarpo Arana Goiri 26 January 1865 |
| Died | 25 November 1903(1903-11-25) (aged 38) |
| Pen name | Arana ta Goiri'taŕ Sabin |
| Occupation | Founder ofBasque nationalism, political theorist, writer, linguist, and cultural revivalist |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Citizenship | Spanish |
| Literary movement | Basque nationalism |
| Notable works | Bizkaitarrak,Euskalzale,Lecciones de Ortografía del euskera |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives | Luis Arana (brother) |
Sabino Policarpo Arana Goiri, also known by theBasque version of his name,Sabin Polikarpo Arana Goiri, or by his self-styled nameArana ta Goiri'taŕ Sabin (26 January 1865 – 25 November 1903), was aBasque writer and the founder of theBasque Nationalist Party (EAJ). Considered the father ofBasque nationalism, he promoted and helped standardize theBasque language, creating a distinctBasque orthography that later served as a basis forStandard Basque, and coined manyneologisms to enhance the language’s prestige and resilience againstCastilian andFrench language influences.
However, Arana's legacy is controversial due to his advocacy of sexist and racist ideas, some of which have been described as proto-fascist, drawing criticism from both supporters and critics of Basque nationalism.[1][2]
Born inAbando,Biscay,Spain He died inSukarrieta at the age of 38 after falling ill withAddison's disease during time spent in prison. He had been charged with treason for attempting to send a telegram to PresidentTheodore Roosevelt, in which he praised theUnited States for helpingCuba gain independence from Spain.
One of the consequences of theFirst Carlist War was the substitution of theAncien Régime Basque home rule (fueros) by a limited still relevant autonomy. A majority inNavarre and the rest of the Basque districts supported the pretender to the Spanish crownCarlos V for his support to their institutions and laws (characterized for beingmore liberal than elsewhere in Spain). However, they were defeated in 1839, and Navarre,Biscay,Araba andGipuzkoa were integrated into the Spanish customs system. Basque industrialists profited from privatization of exploitations and the Spanishcaptive market with the iron ore and theBessemer converter, and Biscay became "the ironCalifornia". Workers from all of Spain were attracted to the area as labourers for the burgeoning industry.
Arana was born in ajauntxo ("petty noble") family fromAbando, a neighbourhood that had been recently incorporated into the city ofBilbao as the new extension for the growth of the industrial era. Abando was a Basque speaking town, but following the attitudes of the elites in the area of Bilbao during this period, Basque was not transmitted to Arana's siblings within the family. Abando and its port were at the centre oftheZamacolada uprising against attempts by the Spanish premierManuel Godoy to recruit Basques for the Spanish army (1804), acontrafuero or breach of basic Basque legislation.
In the aftermath of theThird Carlist War (1876), Arana attended theJesuit School of Urduña along with his brother Luis (1876–1881). Urduña became a hotspot and meeting point for the pro-fueros, primeval Basque nationalists concerned withthe loss of the Basque native institutions.[3] Arana claimed that he had a quasi-religious revelation at Easter 1882,[4] one that he communicated to his brotherLuis Arana. From then he devoted himself to the nationalist cause of Biscay, later extended to the Basque Country.
He was an early proponent of the use of theBasque language in all areas of society to avoid its increasing marginalization in the face of Spanish language penetration, which was imposed as mandatory in schooling, administration and even cultural events such as theater.
Arana learned the language as a young man, and competed for a position as a Basque language professor at theInstituto de Bilbao, contending againstMiguel de Unamuno and the winner,Resurrección María de Azkue who also became a scholar of the language. Arana attempted to establish a codified orthography[5] and grammar for the Basque language, and proposed severalneologisms to replace loanwords of Spanish and French origin (mostly Spanish).
Some of these innovations, like the charactersĺ andŕ, were ultimately rejected in Basque language standardization efforts beginning in 1968 that led to the establishment ofStandard Basque—theEuskara Batua.
His first published work wasBizkaya por su independencia ("Biscay for its independence"), where he calls for the independence of the Biscay district from Castile-Spain ("as it was before 1200"), echoing like proposals put forward byGipuzkoa's governmental representatives to theNational Convention officials Pinet andCavaignac inGetaria during theWar of the Pyrenees (1793–1795).
The document is a collection of historical events, mythical stories and sometimes inaccurate accounts of earlier battles of the ancient people of Biscay. Just as others nationalist ideologies were doing during the period, e.g.Spanish nationalism, Arana's historic accounts distorted and magnified events from Basque history.[6]
Distancing himself from the pro-fueros advocates, Arana refused to demand a reversal ofthefueros suppressed in May 1876, instead putting an emphasis on the full restoration ofhome rule suppressed in 1839. He considered the1839 Spanish law 'upholding' home rule as the act putting an end to the Basque own sources of authority and 'secular Basque independence', as well as a violation of international law.[7]
In 1894, he founded the firstcenter for the new nationalist party (Eusko Alderdi Jeltzalea - Partido Nacionalista Vasco), the second-oldest political party in Spain, to provide a place for gathering and proselytizing. Sabino Arana, like many Europeans of his time, believed that the essence of a country was defined by its blood or ethnic composition. In Spain, the supremacy of the Spanish race and its "civilizing" pursuit over peoples held to be inferior was defended by the main political figures and parties, while a number of intellectuals Spanish and even Basque, including the Socialists, advocated for the extinction of the Basque language — ever more marginalized to family and informal environments.
He is considered by many Basques to be agadfly that sparked the movement for the cultural revival of the Basques, and for the freedom of his people. In that respect, Arana defended the Constitutional foundations of the abolished Basque institutional and legal framework (thefueros). TheEAJ-PNV, the party in power in theBasque Autonomous Community from the end of Francoism (except during 2009–2012), developed along more nuanced and pragmatic lines in respect of religion and views on race, moving away from his most controversial ideas but not from his political persona.
Sabino Arana created an ideology centered on the purity of the Basque race and its alleged moral supremacy over others (a derivation of the system oflimpieza de sangre ofModern-Age Spain), anti-Liberal Catholicintegrism, and deep opposition to the migration of Spaniards to the Basque Country. By contrast, unlike many contemporary conservative politicians in Spain, he was againstslavery inSpanish colonies such asCuba.
He was disturbed by the migration intoBiscay of many workers from western and central Spain during theIndustrial Revolution, into a small territory whose native political institutions had recently been suppressed (1876), believing that their influence would result in the disappearance of the 'pure' Basque race. He presented the Basque as opposed to themaketo (people from the rest of Spain):
"It is necessary to isolate ourselves from the maketos. Otherwise, in this land we walk on, it is not possible to work toward the Glory of God."Bizkaitarra, No. 19
He was a prolific writer, with over 600 journalism articles, most of them with a propaganda purpose. He liked to shock and provoke, in order to get attention from a society that he deemed unaware of its fate. There are two key aspects of Sabino Arana's political persona:
Another essential part of his ideology was devout Catholicism. He considered this to be an essential part of the Basque identity that contrasted with the secularism imported from other parts of Spain and abroad along with new means of production and labour, often unprecedented internal migration. However, his Basque nationalism kept him away fromCarlism that was the dominant ultra-Catholic and conservative movement in the area and the ideology of his father.
Arana and his Basque nationalist movement were persecuted for their ideas against Spanish imperialism, for which he was convicted when he submitteda telegram to Theodore Roosevelt to congratulate him for his assistance in 'liberating' Cuba in 1902, and put to harsh time in prison, which ruined his health and would die soon after.[9] Ahead of his demise, a baffling manifesto attributed to him was released by whichhe relinquished the core of his ideas to everyone's surprise. The nature of this document establishing theLiga de Vascos Españolistas ('League of the Spanish-minded Basques') is still subject to debate as to whether he had sincerely changed his views or whether he was instead merely trying to improve the conditions of his imprisonment. Arana's death left the question unanswered and neither his brother Luis nor the party followed through with his proposal.
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Sabino Arana" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Sabino Arana's ideas are considered to have spawned the Basque nationalist movement.
In 2015, amade-for-television movie calledSabin was released.[10]In February 2017 thePeople's Party of the Basque Country called for a street named after Arana to be renamed because he “made possible the existence of phenomena such as theETA terrorist group”.[11]TheEusko Alderdi Jeltzalea has kept only the more moderate part of his message. On the other hand, some Basques still revere him as the father of the Basque nationalist movement, who managed to start the turnaround of the decay of the Basque language and culture. Many Basque cities have streets named after him.
The estate of his Abando home is nowSabin-Etxea ("Sabino-House"), the EAJ-PNV headquarters.
Jon Juaristi has remarked that perhaps the most influential part of his heritage is the neologistic list of Basque versions of names in hisDeun-Ixendegi Euzkotarra ("Basque saint-name collection", published in 1910). Instead of the traditional adaptations of Romance names, he proposed others he made up and that in his opinion were truer to the originals and adapted to the Basque phonology.
For example, his brother Luis becameKoldobika, from FrankishHlodwig. The traditionalPeru,Pello orPiarres ("Peter") becameKepa from Aramaic כיפא (Kepha). He believed that the suffix-[n]e was inherently feminine, and new names likeNekane ("pain"+ne; "Dolores" in Spanish) orGarbine ("clean"+ne, "Immaculate [Conception]") are frequent among Basque females. Even the name of the brother-in-law of the king of Spain isIñaki Urdangarin,Iñaki being Arana's alternative forIgnatius instead of the Basque traditionalInazio.
