Joan Perez de Lazarraga
Encyclopedia
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
writer, who was born and died in Larrea
Larrea (Alava)
Larrea is a village located in the municipality of Barrundia in the province of Álava, in the Basque Autonomous Community, northern Spain. It had 79 inhabitants in 2004....
, Álava
Álava
Álava is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Álava. Its capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz which is also the capital of the autonomous community...
.
Lazarraga, the lord of Larrea, and a member of a family originating in Oñati
Oñati
Oñati is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the north of Spain. It has a population of approximately 10,500 and lies in a valley in the center of the Basque country. It lies about 40 km south of the Bay of Biscay and is about 236 m...
. As a writer, he was one of the few Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
authors writing in Basque
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
. In around 1567, he left a collection of written papers, together forming a pastoral novel titled Silbero, Silbia, Doristeo, and Sirena, in 21 copies.
In 2004, the manuscript was discovered in an antique shop in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. It is one of very few Basque-language texts to have survived from the 16th century, and the oldest from the southern Basque Country. The Foral Government of Gipuzkoa purchased the text and made it available via the internet. Patri Urkizu prepared the first edition, titled "Dianea and Couplets." This first edition appeared as a collection of papers and was made quickly, without the necessary checks, so a group of Basque experts is preparing a better edition.
The find was very important for Basque linguistics, as it was a very important tool for clarifying the history of the Basque dialect of Álava
Álava
Álava is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Álava. Its capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz which is also the capital of the autonomous community...
and western Basque, presenting never-before documented forms and words.