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At the request of the institution’s board of directors, Argentine historian, Magdalena Mignaburu, along with Josu Legarreta, former Director of Basque Community Relations Abroad, are working on a book that will compile more than a century of the Cultural Charitable Association Euskal Echea’s  history.  Even if a publication date has yet to be determined, they are hoping to have it ready by March 2018. 

Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Remember that the Cultural Association Euskal Echea Charity was founded in 1904 under the motto “Jaungoikoa, Sorterria eta Lana” (God, Homeland and Work) by a group of Basques and Basque descendants in Argentina.  The goal was very clear: concentrate on country, education and the protection of the elderly.

More than a century has passed since May of 1904, and so 113 years of history are not forgotten, the Association’s Board of Directors invited Magdalena Mignaburu to write this book.  In the words of Mignaburu, “the topic of research is the history of the Cultural Charitable Association Euskal Echea, from its creation to the present.  The tentative index includes five chapters that will also include photos and interviews with some 30 people.  Each interview will be filmed to later be edited into a video that will complement the book, as well as serve as the institution’s archive and will contribute data to the work,” the author explained.  When asked about Josu Legarreta’s participation, Mignaburu said that when she got the invitation she thought of Legarreta as a co-author.  “Not only because of his knowledge of the institution from his being the director of Relations with Basque Communities Abroad for so many years, but also because we also wrote Somos vasco-argentinos. Recuperación de la memoria histórica’(We are Basque-Argentines: Recovery of Historic Memory) together and I realized he is an excellent person to work with.  Sharing the work is always better and I personally think it is more enriching,” she said.

Mignaburu said that resources consulted were “several and varied.”  “From archives at the Capuchin Franciscan Friars and the Servants of Mary in Anglet congregations, to yearbooks, memoirs, publications, books, oral and written testimonies, photographs and the above-mentioned interviews. I have recently looked at the subject again and we have a lot of work ahead of us, but I can say that the deeper I research, the more that I am convinced that the Euskal Echea is the most important educational and solidarity organization outside of the Basque Country,” Mignaburu said.

Even if the exact date is yet to be determined they hope to have it done by March of next year.  Remember that Mignaburu is the author of various publications dealing with issues in the Basque community in Argentina, including History of FEVA, Basque Country in Argentina: a Century of Basque Nationalism and Euskera in Argentina: Identity and Feeling.