The daily La Voz del Pueblo, published in Tres Arroyos, Argentina, is one media outlet we’ve cited on more than one occasion, and every time it’s been because they’ve reported on the activities of one particularly active Basque center, the Centro Vasco Hiru Erreka.
On this occasion, we’re citing both the newspaper and the Basque center in this town in southern Buenos Aires province, because they organized a conference and launched a petition to the local authorities which we found very interesting.
Evaristo Bozas Urrutia was born at the end of the 19th century in Rentería, Gipuzkoa. He had a very active life upon his arrival to Uruguay in 1900 as a journalist and author, as we can read in the article dedicated to him, penned by journalist Agostina Alonso.
But, our readers may be wondering, what is the reason for talking about Evaristo Bozas Urrutia, from Tres Arroyos, and for the attempts to preserve the memory of this journalist?
It turns out that this Basque was prolific as a journalist, and committed to social matters, during his 42 years: he created and ran the Diario del Pueblo in Tres Arroyos; was chief writer for the El Diario Español in Montevideo; represented “La Baskonia” in Montevideo; was the co-founder of the Euskal Erria journal, also in Montevideo; collaborated with La Voz de Gipuzkoa; founded El País Vasco in San Sebastian; and collaborated with the Argentine newspaper La Región.
Moreover, he wrote several books: ”Los baskos en el Uruguay, Los baskos en la Nación Argentina” (1916); “Andanzas y mudanzas de mi pueblo” (1921); from the pamphlet “El Alcoholismo” (1908); and “La Tragedia del Emigrante” (1928).
His death was not due to natural causes, as he was shot in Tres Arroyos on April 18, 1929. There is no official reason to explain his death, but we’re sure it had something to do with the fervent campaigns he was launching against administrative corruption and gambling, and his publication of La Tragedia del Emigrante, which cast light on the poor situation those who’d emigrated to the New World lived under. He was buried in a tomb paid for by the people.
As his time in his tomb expires on April 18, 2023, the Basque Center has launched a campaign to have it declared “Cultural Heritage”, and thus be preserved indefinitely. Not only have proper steps been taken with the institutions, but activities have been carried out to spread the word about Evaristo Bozas Urrutia.
On November 29, the Basque Center and rural tourism agency Dejando Huellas organized a conference, led by journalist Omar Alonso, about the story of Evaristo Bozas Urrutia., which was given within the framework of the center’s activities to celebrate the International Day of the Basque Language.
We’ll leave you with the Argentine newspaper article and a .pdf from the conference.
La Voz del Pueblo – 11/12/2022 – Argentina
Un pedido para preservar la tumba de Evaristo Bozas Urrutia
El periodista Omar Alonso brindó en forma reciente, el martes 29 de noviembre, una charla sobre la historia de Evaristo Bozas Urrutia, en el marco del Día Internacional del Euskera. El encuentro se llevó a cabo en la sede del Centro Vasco Hiru Erreka, en una actividad organizada también por el grupo de turismo rural Dejando Huellas.
(Follow) (Automatic translation)
PDF of the Conference
Last Updated on Dec 13, 2022 by About Basque Country