Txillardegi

Txillardegi
Txillardegi in 2007
Born	José Luis Álvarez Enparantza (1929-09-27)27 September 1929 San Sebastián (Donostia), Spain
Died	14 January 2012(2012-01-14) (aged 82) San Sebastián (Donostia), Spain
Pen name	Txillardegi
Occupation	Linguist, politician and writer
Language	Basque
Genre	Novel, Essay
Subject	Standard Basque, Nationalism
Notable works	Leturiaren egunkari ezkutua (1957) Huntaz eta hartaz (1965) Hizkuntza eta pentsakera (1972) Euskal Herria helburu (1994)

José Luis Álvarez Enparantza (27 September 1929 – 14 January 2012), better known by his pseudonym Txillardegi, was a Basque linguist, politician and writer. Born in San Sebastián (Basque Country), he did not learn the Basque language until the age of 17, but came to be considered one of the most influential figures in Basque nationalism and culture in the second half of the 20th century.

Álvarez Enparantza (the maternal surname was sometimes hispanicised as Emparanza) studied engineering in Bilbao, and linguistics in Paris. In 1957, he became a corresponding member of the Euskaltzaindia (Academia de la Lengua Vasca, Academy of the Basque Language), which adopted most of his proposals on the orthography and morphology of Standard Basque. In 1993 he became a member of its Commission on Pronunciation. His name was put forward twice to become a full member of the Euskaltzaindia but he was turned down for political reasons. When he was going to be proposed for a third time, he himself turned down the proposal.

He was a major contributor to the standardisation of Basque. His philosophy was based on the following points:

He was also a well-known writer and linguist under the pseudonyms Larresoro, Igara and Usako. He was a writer influenced by existentialism of Kierkegaard, Unamuno and Sartre, and also by the writer Bertrand Russell. He has had many books published, mostly to do with the Basque language and its grammar. He has also written novels and political essays. His work Leturiaren egunkari ezkutua (1957) is considered the first modern novel written in Basque and makes a clear dividing line in Basque literature. Other work included the novels Haizeaz bestaldetik (1979) and Putzu (1999); the influential essays Huntaz eta hartaz (1965), Hizkuntza eta pentsakera (1972) and Euskal Herria helburu (1994), and the academic works Euskal fonologia (1980), Euskal azentuaz (1984) and Elebidun gizartearen azterketa matematikoa (1984).

In 1968 he won the Txomin Agirre award for his novel Elsa Scheelen. He also won the Andima award in Caracas in 1969 for books on teaching mathematics. He won the Silver Lauburu for his book Euskal Gramatika in Bilbo in 1980.