Colonel Rupert Ashworth Ramon de Larrinaga (born 19 November 1928) in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, the de Larrinaga family hailed from the Basque provinces of

Vizcaya (province) Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. Biscay is one of the most renowned and prosperou ...

before moving to Liverpool in 1863 and forming Larrinaga Shipping Company, sailing out of Liverpool, their ships traded with Spanish colonies and the United States, Rupert who served as a lieutenant-colonel in the Army in the years shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. As a colonel in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, de Larrinaga served in the occupation of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, eventually rising to command

King's Regiment (Liverpool) The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was one of the oldest line infantry regiments of the British Army, having been formed in 1685 when a single battalion was raised as The Anne, Queen of Great Britain, Princess Anne of Denmark's Regiment of Foot. ...

. He was also a director of the family-run Larrinaga Steamship Company Ltd., two ships in the Larrinaga fleet bore the name of Rupert de Larrinaga, the first built in 1930 was torpedoed during

one of the company’s ships the Buena Venture was the first steamer under Spanish flag to pass through the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

, Rupert went on to be skier who competed in the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, were a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 1952 in Oslo, the capital of Norway. Discussions about Oslo hosting ...

in the

Giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant sl ...

and was honoured in the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

with a portrait stamp in 1994 in celebration of the centenary of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

. Larrinaga family owned the Larrinaga Palace Felix Ramon Larrinaga’s family tomb is at Anfield Cemetery Liverpool.

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* 1928 births Living people British Army colonels British male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for Great Britain Alpine skiers at the 1952 Winter Olympics King's Regiment officers King's Regiment (Liverpool) officers Sportspeople from Liverpool British people of Basque descent British expatriates in Germany 20th-century British Army personnel People educated at Ampleforth College {{UK-alpine-skiing-bio-stub