Basque Mexicans (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

: ''vasco-mexicanos'' or simply ''vasco'', Euskara: ''euskal-mexikar'') are

Mexicans Mexicans ( es, mexicanos) are the citizens of the United Mexican States. The most spoken language by Mexicans is Spanish, but some may also speak languages from 68 different Indigenous linguistic groups and other languages brought to Mexi ...

of full, partial, or predominantly Basque ancestry, or Basque-born persons living in Mexico. Seen in Mexico by the whole Euskalerria concept, Basque descendants can be from

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

Euskadi The Basque Country (; eu, Euskadi ; es, País Vasco ), also called Basque Autonomous Community ( eu, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, links=no, EAE; es, Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco, links=no, CAPV), is an autonomous community of Spain. It ...

Iparralde The French Basque Country, or Northern Basque Country ( eu, Iparralde (), french: Pays basque, es, País Vasco francés) is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitu ...

History

The first Catholic archbishop in Mexico, Juan Zumarraga, was Basque.

Francisco Ibarra Francisco de Ibarra (1539 –June 3, 1575) was a Spanish- Basque explorer, founder of the city of Durango, and governor of the Spanish province of Nueva Vizcaya, in present-day Durango and Chihuahua. Biography Francisco de Ibarra was born ...

explored northern Mexico and founded

Nueva Vizcaya Nueva Vizcaya, officially the Province of Nueva Vizcaya ( ilo, Probinsia ti Nueva Vizcaya; gad, Probinsia na Nueva Vizcaya; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Nueva Vizcaya''; tl, Lalawigan ng Nueva Vizcaya ), is a landlocked province in the ...

. Fermín de Francisco Lasuén was the founder of many of the

Spanish missions in Alta California The Spanish missions in California ( es, Misiones españolas en California) comprise a List of Spanish missions in California, series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of Cal ...

. In 1907, the Basque community founded the ''Centro Vasco''. This community consisted of immigrants from

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French de ...

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. ...

and some French Basques. There was a divide between the Basque community: the first group were rural unskilled, economic emigrants that arrived in the late 19th and early 20th century and the other were political exiles of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

that tended to have technical or academic education. A notable migrant of the former group was Braulio Iriarte who immigrated to Mexico in 1877 with no education or professional experience. He began as an employee in a bakery and after years of hard work he owned 80 bakeries and a mill. This mill, El Euskaro, founded in 1906 was one of the largest in Mexico. He also owned

haciendas An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or ''finca''), similar to a Roman ''latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards), ...

Querétaro Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities. Its capi ...

, mines in

Hidalgo Hidalgo may refer to: People * Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility * Hidalgo (surname) Places Mexico * Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico * Hidalgo, Coahuila, a town in the north Mexican state of Coahuila * Hidalgo, Nuevo Le� ...

, large properties in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...

and helped found various corporations, including

Grupo Modelo Grupo Modelo is a large brewery in Mexico that exports beer to most countries of the world. Its export brands include '' Corona'', ''Modelo'', and '' Pacífico''. Grupo Modelo also brews brands that are intended solely for the domestic Mexican ...

Notable Basque-Mexicans

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Sor may refer to: * Fernando Sor (1778–1839), Spanish guitarist and composer * Sor, Ariège, a French commune * SOR Libchavy, a Czech bus manufacturer * Sor, Azerbaijan, a village * Sor, Senegal, an offshore island * Sor River, a river in th ...

, self-taught scholar and poet of the Baroque school, and nun of New Spain. *

Agustín de Iturbide Agustín de Iturbide (; 27 September 178319 July 1824), full name Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu and also known as Agustín of Mexico, was a Mexican army general and politician. During the Mexican War of Independence, he built ...

, emperor of the First Mexican Empire. *

María Félix María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña (; 8 April 1914 – 8 April 2002) was a Mexican actress and singer. Along with Pedro Armendáriz and Dolores del Río, she was one of the most successful figures of Latin American cinema in the 1940s and ...

, Mexican actress of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. *

Dolores del Río María de los Dolores Asúnsolo y López Negrete (3 August 1904 – 11 April 1983), known professionally as Dolores del Río (), was a Mexican actress. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is regarded as the first major female Latin Am ...

, Mexican film actress and Golden Age of Hollywood. *

Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu (; American Spanish: ; credited since 2016 as Alejandro G. Iñárritu; born 15 August 1963) is a Mexican filmmaker and screenwriter. He is primarily known for making modern psychological drama films about the hu ...

, Mexican director, director of two masterpieces: Birdman and The Revenant. *

Vicente Fox Vicente Fox Quesada (; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006. After campaigning as a right-wing populist, Fox was elected president on the ...

, 55th President of Mexico, maternal Basque descent. *

Juan de Oñate Juan de Oñate y Salazar (; 1550–1626) was a Spanish conquistador from New Spain, explorer, and colonial governor of the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México in the viceroyalty of New Spain. He led early Spanish expeditions to the Great Pla ...

, New Spanish explorer, colonial governor of the New Spain province of New Mexico. *

Francisco "Pancho" Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...

, Mexican Revolutionary generals. *

Mariano Abasolo Jose Mariano de Abasolo (1783–1816) was a Mexican revolutionist, born at Dolores, Guanajuato. He participated in the revolution started by Miguel Hidalgo. Biography In 1809 he belonged to one of the first conspiracy groups located in Val ...

, Mexican revolutionist. *

Juan Escutia ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

, Mexican soldier. *

José Alberto Aguilar Iñárritu José Alberto Aguilar e Iñárritu (born 11 April 1954) is a Mexican economist and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party. As of 2014 he served as Deputy of the LIX Legislature of the Mexican Congress as a plurinominal ...

, Mexican economist and politician *

Carlos Guerrero de Lizardi Carlos Guerrero de Lizardi is a Mexican professor and researcher in economics with the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, currently the director of the masters program in economics and public policy at the Mexico City campus. ...

, Mexican professor and researcher in economics. * Carlos María Abascal Carranza, Mexican lawyer and the Secretary of the Interior in the cabinet of Vicente Fox. *

Ignacio Elizondo Francisco Ignacio Elizondo Villarreal, (born Salinas Valley, New Kingdom of León, New Spain, March 9, 1766 - died San Marcos, Texas, New Spain, c. September 12, 1813), was a royalist military officer during the Mexican war of independence agai ...

, New Spanish royalist general of the Spanish army during the Mexican War of Independence. *

Clemente Aguirre Clemente Aguirre (November 23, 1828 – October 24, 1900) was a Mexican composer, conductor, bandleader, instructor, and folksong collector active in Guadalajara, Jalisco. His father died when he was a child, leaving his family in poverty. Nonethe ...

, Mexican composer and music instructor. *

José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi (November 15, 1776 – June 21, 1827), Mexican writer and political journalist, best known as the author of '' El Periquillo Sarniento'' (1816), translated as ''The Mangy Parrot'' in English, reputed to be the ...

, Mexican writer and political journalist. *

Sergio Salvador Aguirre Anguiano Sergio Salvador Aguirre Anguiano (1 February 1943 – 21 June 2020) was a Mexican jurist and Associate Justice ''(ministro)'' of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Aguirre Anguiano studied law at the Auto ...

, Mexican jurist and Associate Justice. *

Celso Aguirre Bernal Celso Aguirre Bernal was a Mexican writer and historian. He was born in Puerto de Canoas, Sinaloa in 1916 and died in 1997 in Mexicali, where he had lived since the 1950s. He published ''Compendio histórico-biográfico de Mexicali'' (1968), ...

, Mexican writer and historian. *

Ricardo Legorreta Ricardo Legorreta Vilchis (May 7, 1931 – December 30, 2011) was a Mexican architect. He was a prolific designer of private houses, public buildings and master plans in Mexico, the United States of America and some other countries. He was awarde ...

, Mexican architect. *

Luis Gatica Luis Gatica (born February 25, 1961) is a Mexican actor, son of the Chilean singer Lucho Gatica and the Puerto Rican actress Mapita Cortés. He is the uncle of fellow actor Alfredo Gatica. Biography Luis Gatica was born in Veracruz, Mexico. He ...

, Mexican actor to Chilean father of Basque descent. *

Liza Echeverría Liza Echeverría (born Linda Elizabeth Echeverría Gray on August 29, 1972 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico) is a Mexican actress, model and television presenter. Telenovelas * ''Luz Clarita'' (1996) as Dana * ''Misión S.O.S.'' (2004) ...

, Mexican actress and model. *

Andrea Legarreta Andrea Legarreta (born Andrea Legarreta Martínez; 12 July 1972) is a Mexican actress, and the main host of TV program '' Hoy''. She is married to the singer Erik Rubin Erik Rubín Milanszenko (born 30 January 1971) is a Mexican singer ...

, Mexican actress and TV host. *

Ramón Músquiz Don Ramón Músquiz (1797–1867) was the political chief of Texas from 1828 to 1834 and in 1835. He promoted the expansion into Texas and peaceful relations of its population, regardless of their origins. Músquiz was also appointed governor of ...

, Mexican governor of Texas from 1830 to 1831 and in 1835. *

Ricardo Pozas Arciniega Ricardo Pozas Arciniega (May 4, 1912, Amealco de Bonfil, Querétaro – January 19, 1994, Mexico City) was a distinguished Mexican anthropologist, scientific investigator and indigenista. He wrote the classic anthropological works ''Juan P� ...

, Mexican anthropologist, scientific investigator and indigenista. * Carlos Emilio Orrantía, Mexican footballer. * Guillermo Iberio Ortiz Mayagoitia, Mexican jurist and Supreme Court Justice. * Manuel Rueda Chapital, Mexican lawyer and his five sons and daughters, Maria Luisa, Patricia, Gabriela, Manuel Jr, and Mauricio *

Manuel Peláez Manuel Peláez Gorrochotegui (1885–1959) Mexican military officer, noteworthy for his participation in the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1920. Manuel Peláez was born in 1885 in the Huasteca region of the state of Veracruz, in the coastal ...

, Mexican military officer. *

Hilda Gaxiola Hilda Gaxiola Álvarez (born July 14, 1972 in Guamúchil, Sinaloa) is a female beach volleyball player from Mexico, who won the silver medal in the women's beach team competition at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Repu ...

, Mexican female beach volleyball player. *

Venustiano Carranza José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920) was a Mexican wealthy land owner and politician who was Governor of Coahuila when the constitutionally elected president Francisco I. Madero was overthrown in a Februa ...

, 44th President of Mexico from 1917 to 1920. *

Luis Echeverría Luis Echeverría Álvarez (; 17 January 1922 – 8 July 2022) was a Mexican lawyer, academic, and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), who served as the 57th president of Mexico from 1970 to 1976. Previously ...

, 50th President of Mexico from 1970 to 1976. *

Yuridia Francisca Yuridia Francisca Gaxiola Flores, commonly known as Yuridia, (born October 4, 1986) is a Mexican singer. She came in second place in the fourth season of the reality show ''La Academia'', which launched her career. In 2005, Yuridia released her d ...

Gaxiola Flores, Mexican singer of Basque ancestry. *

Alberto Andrés Alvarado Arámburo Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic '' Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Al ...

, Mexican politician. *

Jorge Ibargüengoitia Jorge Ibargüengoitia Antillón (January 22, 1928 – November 27, 1983) was a Mexican novelist and playwright who achieved great popular and critical success with his satires, three of which have appeared in English: ''The Dead Girls'', ''Tw ...

, Mexican novelist and playwright. *

Dolores Heredia Dolores Heredia Lerma (born October 6, 1966) is a Mexican actress. Personal life She is the seventh of ten children who grew up in La Paz, Baja California Sur. Her mother was a photographer from Sinaloa, Lusiana Kornal and her father was a sea ...

, Mexican actress. *

Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta (2 March 1895, Tampico, Tamaulipas – 23 September 1972, Mexico City) was a Mexican businessman who built an entertainment conglomerate. The son of Basque immigrants Mariano Azcárraga and Emilia Vidaurreta, ...

, Mexican businessman. *

Ángel César Mendoza Arámburo Ángel César Mendoza Arámburo (15 December 1934 – 25 March 2014)Celso Gaxiola Celso is a given name, a variant of Celsus. It may refer to: People * Celso Sozzini (1517-1570), Italian freethinker * Celso Mancini (1542-1612), Italian Roman Catholic prelate * Celso Zani (1580-unknown), Italian Roman Catholic prelate * Celso ...

, Mexican politician, Governor of Sinaloa 1911 . *

Mariana Ochoa Mariana Yolanda Ochoa Reyes (born February 19, 1979 in Mexico City) is a Mexican singer and actress. Music career She was a member of the musical group La Onda Vaselina, who were one of the most successful pop bands of Mexico, OV7. She stayed i ...

, Mexican singer *

María Asunción Aramburuzabala María Asunción Aramburuzabala Larregui (born 2 May 1963) is a Mexican billionaire businesswoman. She is the chairperson of Tresalia Capital, a venture capital firm. As of March 2022, her net worth is estimated at US$6.2 billion. Early life ...

, Mexican billionaire businesswoman. * Luisa Gaxiola, News Anchor, descendant of Governor Celso Gaxiola. *

Susana Zabaleta Susana Zabaleta Ramos (; born September 30, 1964) is a Mexican soprano singer and actress. Early life Born in Monclova, Coahuila, she moved to Mexico City in 1985. In 1986 she performed in the Sala Ollín Yoliztli and interpreted opera perform ...

, Mexican actress and singer *

DJ Trevi Treavor Alvarado (born June 27, 1990), better known by his stage name DJ Trevi, and under other pseudonyms such as Martin Treavor, is an American electronic music, DJ, music producer, composer, reality show personality, and actor. He appeared in ...

, DJ, producer, composer, and actor *

Ángel César Mendoza Arámburo Ángel César Mendoza Arámburo (15 December 1934 – 25 March 2014)*

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...