Julián Elorza Aizpuru (1879-1964) was a Spanish Carlist politician. He is best known as advocate of Basque autonomous establishments, promoted during the Restoration, the Primo de Rivera dictatorship and the Second Republic. He was member of the provincial Gipuzkoan self-government (1911-1926, 1930–1931) and served as its president (1919-1924). Elorza was also the founder and the first president of Sociedad de Estudios Vascos (1919-1936). Politically he refrained from Carlist militancy and remained on conciliatory terms with most other political groupings.
Family and youth
The Elorzas originated from Biscay, though in the 9th century some of them took root in GipuzkoaLuis Villar y Pascual, Diccionario Histórico-Genealógico y Heráldico de las Familias Ilustres de la Monarquía Española, vol. 6, Madrid 1862, p. 297 and settled near the town of Legazpia.Waldo Ayarza Elorza, De los Vascos, Oñati y loe Elorza s.l. 1995, p. 52 Over the centuries this noble Basque family got very branched and many Elorzas made it to Spanish history as civil servants,e.g. Martin Lardizábal Elorza was the governor of Caracas in 1732-1743 military commanders,perhaps the best known one is Cosme Damián de Churruca y Elorza, who until today enjoys sort of iconic status due to his stand at Trafalgar religious hierarchse.g. Juan Antonio Lardizábal Elorza held high religious posts in what is now Mexico in 1722-1733 or businessmen,compare e.g. María Luisa Herrero García, Los Elorzas, un familia de rejeros vascos, [in:] Archivo español de arte 248 (1989), pp. 459-465 serving either on the peninsula or overseas.Elorza entry, [in:] Heraldrys Institute of Rome service, available here, Elorza entry, [in:] Heraldica Javier Alonso service, available here One branch was related to the town of Azpeitia at least since the early 16th century;Ayarza Elorza 1995, p. 80 in the mid-19th century the Elorzas were one of the most recognized families in the city and held various prominent local roles.e.g. Ignacio José Elorza was a presbiter in Azpeitia The father of Julián, Juan José Elorza Aizpuru,neither the date of his birth nor the date of his death is known. Given he studied in the mid-1860s he was probably born in the late 1840s. The last press note referring to him comes from 1897 and there is no information on him after the date; in 1926 his wife was referred to as a widow studied law in Madrid in the mid-1860s;Elorza Aizpuru, Juan José entry, [in:] Archivo Histórico Nacional service, available here having returned to Azpeitia he started practicing as a lawyerEl Pensamiento Español 18.06.65, available here and worked for the Gipuzkoan self-government, Diputación Provincial, as its secretary.Manuel Revuelta González, La Compañía de Jesús en la España contemporánea: Supresión y reinstalación (1868-1883), Madrid 1984, , p. 163 During the Third Carlist War he joined the legitimists and in their administration acted as secretary of Miguel Dorronsoro Ceberio.Francisco Apalategui Igarzabal, Karlisten eta liberalen gerra-kontaerak, Donostia 2005, , p. 34 During the early Restoration period he was elected to the Azpeitia city council; in the early 1880s he served as deputy mayor.Lau-buru 03.04.84, available here In 1891 he reached the highest Gipuzkoan political strata when nominated to Diputación Provincial;Guia Oficial de España 1891, available here periodically holding the post of vice-president,he served as vice-president at least in 1894, Comision vascongada de 1894, [in:] Eusko Ikaskuntza service, available here he served as a Carlistcompare e.g. his belligerent declaration issued in defence as the Carlist cause, El Correo Español 29.11.92, available here deputy until 1897.José Juan Elorza Aizpuru is last noted as member of the Gipzukoan diputación in Anuario del comercio de la industria de la magistratura y de la administración issued in 1897, compare here; in a subsequent issue of Anuario, published in 1898, he is already missing
Juan José Elorza married his relative Catalina Aizpuru Iriarte (died 1926El Siglo Futuro 25.03.26, available here), a girl from another distinguished Azpeitian family; they settled in Azpeitia.with 6,200 inhabitants in the 1880s Azpeitia was the 4th largest city in Gipuzkoa, after San Sebastian, Tolosa and Bergara. It developed relatively slowly and in 1930 with 7,800 inhabitants it was already smaller than San Sebastian, Irun, Eibar, Tolosa, Bergara and Renteria, Carlos Larrinaga, Diputaciones Provinciales e Infrastructuras en el País Vasco durante el primer tercio del siglo XX (1900-1936), Donostia 2013, , p. 53 It is not clear how many children the couple had; it is known they had at least two sons and one daughter,La Libertad 17.05.22, available here all brought up in pious religious ambience.e.g. his brother Fructuoso was president of the local Marianist association, El Siglo Futuro 09.08.04, available here Julián was first educated in the most prestigious conservative establishment in Vascongadas, the Jesuit college of Orduña;J. I. Alberdi Egaña, Don Julián Elorza, un ilustre azpeitano, [in:] El Diario Vasco 04.02.14, available here it is there where he obtained the baccalaureate.Elorza Aizpuru, Julián entry, [in:] Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia service online, available here He then followed in the footsteps of his father and commenced law studies in Madrid; after an 1895-1897 spell in facultad de derecho of Universidad CentralElorza Aizpuru, Julián entry, [in:] Archivo Histórico Nacional service, available here Julián later completed his education in the University of Oñati.Elorza Aizpuru, Julián entry, [in:] Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia service online, available here Following graduation he returned to Azpeitia and took over the law practice of his late father; he was first noted as abogado in 1903.Anuario del comercio de la industria de la magistratura y de la administración 1903, available here
Julián Elorza got married fairly late; in 1922El Debate 30.08.21, available here he wed Visitación Urizar, descendant to a well-to-do bourgeoisieUrizar Olazabal, José de entry, [in:] Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia service online, available here Biscay family from Berriz.Alberdi Egaña 2014 Her close relative José Urizar was a deputy to the Biscay provincial diputación and her uncle was the archpriest of San Sebastián;Heraldo Alavés 09.01.22, available here the Urizars were known rather for Liberal political preferences.Luciano Urízar Echevarría was a well known icon of Biscay liberalism The couple settled in Azpeitia and had two sons, born in the mid-1920s. The older one, Julián Elorza Urizar, died as a 13-year-old boy in 1936; circumstances of his death are not clear. The younger one, José Ignacio Elorza Urizar,Alberdi Egaña 2014 was a lawyer and entrepreneur; though during late Francoism and in the late 20th century he held various executive posts in Gipuzkoan commercial entitieshe is listed in executive bodies of various companies, see e.g. 35.000 Fuhrende Unternehmen in Europee, Amsterdam 1992, p. 1218, or Boletin oficial del estado: Gaceta de Madrid 1975, p. 14430 he did not become a public figure. The brother of Julián, Fructuoso Elorza Aizpuru, was also a lawyerAnuario del comercio de la industria de la magistratura y de la administración 1911, available here and served as mayor of Azpeitia during the late Restoration period;José Ignacio Alberdi Egaña, Festividad de San Ignacio, año 1912, [in:] El Diario Vasco 29.06.12, available here his son and Julián's nephew volunteered to requeté and died in combat in 1937.Javier Buces Cabello, Azpeitia 1936-1945. Memoriaren izenak, Azpeitia 2016, , p. 76
Gipuzkoan deputy
Following a few years of his own law practice, in the early 20th century, Elorza was appointed the Azpeitia municipal judge;Alberdi Egaña 2014 he held the job from 1907 latest.El Eco de Navarra 01.11.07, available here Coming from the Carlist family he inherited the same Traditionalist outlook, though he preferred to donate moneyEl Correo Español 10.04.08, available here and collect Carlist memorabiliae.g. in 1915 Julián Elorza corresponded with a number of people in searching of a Carlist war standard from the Third Carlist War, Mikelatz, Bandera del 6º Batallón de Guipúzcoa: Pérdida y Localización, [in:] Hechos, Anécdotas y Relatos de Las Guerras Carlistas service 06.10.14, available here rather than to engage in outward party militancy; none of the studies dealing with Carlism of the era notes him as involved in the organization.see e.g. a massive PhD work dealing with Carlism of the late 19th and early 20th century, Agustín Fernández Escudero, El marqués de Cerralbo (1845-1922): biografía politica [PhD thesis], Madrid 2012; despite his prominent position in local provincial self-administration, Elorza is not mentioned a single time. He is neither noted in Javier Real Cuesta, El Carlismo Vasco 1876-1900, Madrid 1985, or in Juan Ramón de Andrés Martín, El cisma mellista. Historia de una ambición política, Madrid 2000, According to scholars he was among “relatively open-minded people”.“hombres de espíritu relativamente abierto que sabrán contemporizar con el nacionalismo vizcaíno y con el más en simismado foralismo de los alaveses”, Idoia Estornés Zubizarreta, La contrucción de una nacionalidad vasca. El Autonomismo de Eusko-Ikaskuntza (1918-1931) [extraordinary issue # 14 of Vasconia: Cuadernos de historia – geografía], Donostia 1990, p. 122 On good terms with Basque nationalists and republican foralists, Elorza was an acceptable candidate to the provincial self-government, though exact circumstances of his 1911 nomination to Diputación Provincial at an unusually young age of 32 are not clear. It is known that he ran as a Carlist and had no rivals. Other parties, especially the all-powerful Azpeitian Integrists,the Integrists totally dominated the Azpeitia district when it comes to the Cortes elections; from 1891 to 1923 they won almost all mandates available, compare here refrained from fielding own candidates; perhaps Elorza's nomination was sort of a tribute to his late father. He was declared victorious according to the notorious Article 29.El Eco de Navarra 13.06.11, available here
Elorza's first years in the Gipuzkoan self-government were not punctuated by noteworthy events; he remained in the shadow of the provincial Carlist jefé and the Diputación president at the same time, marquis of Valde-Espina, and strictly followed his lead, e.g. when in 1912 dealing with apparent incompetence of some deputies.Pedro Berriochoa Azcárate, 1911: Incompatibilidades burocráticas sobre fondo caciquil en la Diputación de Gipuzkoa, [in:] Historia Contemporánea 40 (2010), pp. 61-62 Re-elected as a Carlist candidate in 1913La Correspondencia de España 10.03.13, available here he gradually assumed more active stance; scholars note that together with other newcomers in the Diputación, Ignacio Pérez-Arregui and José de Orueta, he provided an impulse directing the body towards the Basque question.Estornés Zubizarreta 1990, p. 122 Following another re-election in 1916Guia Oficial de España 1916, available here he was already heavily engaged in negotiations with the Madrid government, playing key role in discussions on renewal of the periodical provincial Concierto Económico agreement.La Libertad 04.11.16, available here