Pierre Lafitte Ithurralde (21 May 1901 – 23 February 1985) was a French Basque priest and author.

Biography

Lafitte was born in

on 21 May 1901. Orphaned at the age of seven, he was raised by his aunt and uncle in Ithorots, where he also went to the local school. From 1914 he continued his education at the seminary in Urt from where he graduated in 1919. He was ordained on 13 July 1924 and taught at the Catholic University of Toulouse for a number of years until returning to the

Northern Basque Country The French Basque Country (; ; ), or Northern Basque Country (, or , ), is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitutes the Basque Municipal Community (; ) presided o ...

where he eventually settled in Ustaritz for good. He contributed to many Basque and Basque-related publications, including ''Eskualduna'' and ''Gure Herria''. He was deeply involved in the Basque nationalist movement, North and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

over many years and founded the first nationalist movement in the North. In 1949 he was called to sit on

Euskaltzaindia Euskaltzaindia (; often translated Royal Academy of the Basque Language) is the official academic language regulatory institution which watches over the Basque language. It conducts research, seeks to protect the language, and establishes stand ...

, the official institution regulating the

Basque language Basque ( ; ) is a language spoken by Basques and other residents of the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country, a region that straddles the westernmost Pyrenees in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. Basque ...

. In 1982 he received an honorary degree from the

University of the Basque Country The University of the Basque Country (, ''EHU''; , ''UPV''; officially EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Deusto, University of Bilbao, initial ...

. He died 23 February 1985 in

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

(

Labourd Labourd (; ; ; ) is a former French province and part of the present-day Pyrénées Atlantiques '' département'' of Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It is one of the traditional Basque provinces, and identified as one of the territorial component pa ...

).Auñamendi Entziklopedi
Lafitte Ithurralde, Pierre
Retrieved 29 July 2009

Works

;Linguistics He is known for several seminal works on the Basque language, including: *''Grammaire basque: navarro-labourdin littéraire'' (1944) *''Grammaire basque pour tous II – Le verbe basque'' (1981) ;Narration * ''Historio-misterio edo etherazainaren ipui hautatuak'' (1990) ;Essays * ''Koblakarien legea'' (1935) * ''Mende huntako euskaldun idazleen Pentsa-bideak'' (1974) * ''Pierre Topet-Etxahun'' (1970) ;Anthologies * ''Eskualdunen Loretegia. XVI-garren mendetik hunateko liburuetatik bildua. Lehen zatia (1645–1800)'' (1931) ;Theater * ''Hil biziaren ordenua'' (1963) * ''Santcho Azkarra'' (1954) ;Poetry * ''Mañex Etchamendi bertsularia'' (1972) * ''Murtuts eta bertze... (artho churitzeko zonbait ichorio chahar)'' (1945) ;Other works * ''Kazetari lan hautatuak'' (2002)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafitte Ithurralde, Pierre French-Basque people Linguists of Basque Basque-language writers People from Labourd 1901 births 1985 deaths Basque-language poets 20th-century French poets French male essayists French male poets 20th-century French essayists 20th-century French male writers 20th-century French linguists