The Great Bertsolari Championship (Bertsolari Txapelketa Nagusia) is a championship among

bertsolari Bertsolaritza or bertsolarism is the art of singing extemporaneously composed songs in Basque according to various melodies and rhyming patterns. Bertsos can be composed at a variety of occasions but are performed generally by one or various '' ...

s from all over the Basque Country. It is contested every four years and the current 2022 champion is

Maialen Lujanbio Maialen Lujanbio (born 26 November 1976) is a Basque poet and bertsolari winner. She composes her oral poetry in the Basque language and she is the only woman to ever reach her level. Life Lujanbio was born in Hernani, Gipuzkoa, Hernani in 1976. S ...

History

It was first organized by

Euzko Gaztedi Euzko Gaztedi Indarra-EGI (Basque for "Basque Youth Force") is the youth wing of the Basque main nationalist political party, the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV). Their presence is in the Basque Country, in the Basque Autonomous Community, Navarre ...

in 1935 and 1936. Then there was a hiatus 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 Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

and its subsequent repression.

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 ...

took some years of organizational responsibility in 1960, 1962, 1965, and 1967. The next, with a thirteen-year break, were held in 1980 and 1982, and Xabier Amuriza won both. Although he was a Biscayan, he sung in

Standard Basque Standard Basque ( eu, euskara batua or simply ''batua'') is a standardised version of the Basque language, developed by the Basque Language Academy in the late 1960s, which nowadays is the most widely and commonly spoken Basque-language version ...

, breaking the mold, and since then established the bases for modern

bertsolaritza Bertsolaritza or bertsolarism is the art of singing extemporaneously composed songs in Basque according to various melodies and rhyming patterns. Bertsos can be composed at a variety of occasions but are performed generally by one or various '' ...

. Since 1986, the Basque Association of Friends of the Basque Country has organized the championship every four years.

Winners

References

External links

*http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/fiesta/fiesta-bertsolaris-poetas-populares-vascos/3706444/ *https://www.bertsozale.eus/eu/bertsolari-txapelketa-nagusia {{CC-notice, cc=bysa3, url=https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertsolari_Txapelketa_Nagusia Singing competitions Bertsolaris Verse contests 1935 introductions Quadrennial events