Julen Kerman Madariaga Agirre (11 October 1932 – 6 April 2021) was a Spanish

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

politician and lawyer who co-founded the Basque armed group

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

in 1959 together with , Rafael Albisu and

Txillardegi José Luis Álvarez Enparantza (27 September 1929 – 14 January 2012), better known by his pseudonym Txillardegi, was a Spanish linguist, politician, and writer. He was born and raised in the Basque Country, and although he did not learn the ...

Biography

Madariaga was born in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

on 11 October 1932. He accompanied his father, a militant of the

Basque Nationalist Party The Basque Nationalist Party (, EAJ ; es, Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV; french: Parti Nationaliste Basque, PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially Basque National Party in English,) was rejected by party members in November 2011. Nonetheless, the party did ...

, to exile in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

during 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 ...

. He returned to Bilbao in 1942. After high school, he studied law in the United Kingdom, earning a doctorate in

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, after which he returned to the Basque Country and embarked on nationalist political activity. He was one of the founders of "Ekin" in the early 1950s, a splinter organization of the Basque Nationalist Party youth that was the embryo of the future Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA). This was created in 1959 and, three years later, Madariaga participated in Bayonne in the I Assembly of the organization. He was since then one of the members of its executive committee. Madariaga was indicted in the Burgos trial and declared in absentia. He was a leader of ETA, a prominent member of

Herri Batasuna Herri Batasuna (; en, Popular Unity; HB) was a far-left Basque nationalist coalition in Spain. It was founded in 1978 and defined itself as abertzale, left-wing, socialist, and supported the independence of the Greater Basque Country. It was r ...

and, later, founder of the political party Aralar and was close to the pacifist organization, . Madariaga served long prison sentences and spent years in exile, but severed his links with ETA in 1989 after becoming disillusioned with the group's methods. He left Herri Batasuna in 1995 after the coalition refused to condemn ETA violence. In June 2006, he was arrested in France on charges of

extorting Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, al ...

businessmen into making financial contributions to ETA. However, the charges were dropped and he was released within days.

Death

He died on 6 April 2021 at the age of 88 from a long illness.

Sources

*"Spanish hold vigils urging Eta not to break terror ceasefire", ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', December 4, 1999 *"ETA may call for end to violence". AP, March 25, 2004 *"From Belfast to Bilbao". ''Guardian'', April 19, 2006 *"Spain announces peace talks with ETA". AP, June 29, 2006 *Baskenland Informatie Centrum newsletter, June 2006

References

1932 births 2021 deaths Aralar (Basque political party) politicians ETA (separatist group) activists Herri Batasuna politicians People from Bilbao Alumni of the University of Cambridge {{BasqueCountry-politician-stub