Bilbao, Bizkaia. The Xamezaga Publishing House founded and directed by Xabier Amezaga, son of the writer, translator and intellectual Bingen Amezaga Aresti (Algorta, 1901 – Caracas, 1969) donated the complete works of his father to the Historic Archive of Euskadi, through the Basque Diaspora Archive. Xabier contacted the Basque Government, specifically Gorka Alvarez who led him to the archive. Yesterday’s date was not chosen at random, since “July 9th marked 81 years since the beginning of Basque exile in the 20th century in Venezuela, with the arrive of the ship Cuba to the La Guaira port with the first expedition of Basque refugees from the Civil War,” Xabier Amezaga explained
Bingen Amezaga (Amezaga ‘tar Bingen or Vicente Amezaga) was born in Algorta and graduated in Commercial Technical Engineering and Law. He was elected councilor of Getxo in 1931, with José Antonio Aguirre as mayor. He was director of the Department of Education, appointed by Jesus María Leizaola, in the first Basque Government, and from there he founded the first official ikastola, in Plentzia, in December 1936
He learned Basque as an adult and became fluent. He married Mercedes Iribarren Gorostegui and they had five children, Mirentxu (Marie, born in Paris); Begoña (Paris); Arantzazu (Buenos Aires); Bingen (Montevideo) and Xabier (Montevideo). In exile he lived with is family in Argentina, Uruguay and Venezuela
He was a professor of law at universities in Caracas and Montevideo. He published stories, narrations and essays on Basque topics as well as contributed to numerous translated works into Basque by classic international authors, an entire list of works by Shakespeare; Goethe; Plinio; Esquilo, Cicerón, Wilde...
Xabier Iñaki Amezaga Iribarren is the youngest son of Bingen and has taken the role in the family as the depositary and diffusor of his father’s legacy, compiling and digitizing his works, creating places for them online and on social media . Editorial Xamezaga, on Facebook, on Twitter...
Yesterday, he proceeded to donate his father’s complete works to the Historic Archive of Euskadi.
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