Resurrección María de Azkue
| Resurrección María de Azkue | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
5 August 1864 Lekeitio, Biscay, Spain |
| Died | 9 November 1951 (aged 87) Bilbao, Biscay, Spain |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Notable works | Diccionario Vasco-Español-Francés Euskal Izkindea-Gramática Euskara morfología Vasca |
Resurrección María de Azkue (5 August 1864 – 9 November 1951) was an influential Basque priest, musician, poet, writer, sailor and academic. He made several major contributions to the study of the Basque language and was the first head of the Euskaltzaindia, the Academy of the Basque Language. In spite of some justifiable criticism of an imbalance towards unusual and archaic forms and a tendency to ignore the Romance influence on Basque, he is considered one of the greatest scholars of Basque to date.
His full name is Resurrección de Jesús María de las Nieves Azkue Aberasturi Barrundia Uribarri but he is commonly known as Resurrección María de Azkue, R. M. Azkue or simply Azkue.
Azkue was born in the Biscayan town of Lekeitio, a native speaker of Basque and son of the Basque poet Eusebio Maria de los Dolores Azkue Barrundia who was from Lekeitio himself and Maria Karmen Aberasturi Uribarri from Mundaka. After having studied nautical studies in Lekeitio, he went on to Bilbao to do his baccalaureate and then Vitoria and University of Salamanca to study theology and philosophy. He gained priesthood in 1888.
The same year, the Foral Government of Biscay invited new applicants for the chair of Basque Studies. Azkue, Sabino Arana and Miguel de Unamuno all applied but Azkue was awarded the position. In the following period, he initiated many initiatives related to orthographic issues and the teaching of Basque, including the two magazines Euskalzale and Ibaizabal.
Although he considered himself a Basque patriot (or abertzale) and although he was in contact with nationalist figures such as Sabino Arana and Ramón de la Sota, he is not considered to have been a Carlist and frequently disagreed with Arana and de Soto, particularly on Basque linguistic issues. More enamoured with the Basque language and culture, he tried to avoid politics in favour of cultural activities.
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