Gabriel Aresti Segurola (October 14, 1933 – June 5, 1975) was one of the most important writers and poets in Basque language in the 20th century. He grew up in

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, which was a Spanish-speaking environment. Although his father talked to his parents in Basque language, the child Gabriel did not have Basque as mother language. He was a self-taught student of the language, at the age of 21 he collaborated in some magazines. His literary career began with a work influenced by the symbolism, Maldan Behera (Downhill). His most important works are, however, Harri eta Herri (Stone and Country, 1964), Euskal Harria (The Basque Stone, 1968) and Harrizko Herri Hau (This Country of Stone, 1971), related to the social realism. He also cultivated other genres, like the novel, the short story and theatre. He was an excellent translator of Basque; he translated authors like

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...

, T. S. Eliot and Giovanni Boccaccio. Very critical and controversial, he published many articles, which brought him problems not only with

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

's regime but also with some of the mainstream Basque nationalism tendencies, because of his leftist social ideas. Gabriel Aresti was one of the greatest inspirers of the modern culture in Basque language (though he always found the sources in the popular culture and the daily talking, opposing to the purists of the language), and as a Member of the

Academy of the Basque language An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

, he defended the unified Basque language, which he also used before it was adopted by the Academy in 1968. He founded the publishing house Lur, allowing new authors in the Basque language like Ramon Saizarbitoria, Arantxa Urretabizkaia or

Xabier Lete Xabier Lete Bergaretxe (Oiartzun, Gipuzkoa, April 5, 1944 - Donostia, December 4, 2010) was a Basque writer, poet, singer and politician. He started to write from an early age and he often published articles in the magazine "Zeruko Argia". In 1965 h ...

to publish their first works.

External links

* Azurmendi, Joxe 1985
Aresti: sentsibilitate konkretu bat
'' Jakin'', 36: 5-30. * Azurmendi, Joxe 1991
Arestiren tintazko bataioaz
'' Jakin'', 62: 129-142. *
Poems of Gabriel Aresti
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aresti, Gabriel 1933 births 1975 deaths People from Bilbao Basque-language writers Basque-language poets 20th-century Spanish poets