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Thanks to the Institute of Genealogical Studies in Uruguay, the book An Anonymous Basque on an American Adventure by lawyer, historian and genealogist from Montevideo, Enrique Yarza Rovira will be presented this afternoon.  Published by Rumbo, the book features one of the author’s ancestors as its main character, Juan Martin Beracochea and his immigration to Uruguay after the independence.

Montevideo, Uruguay.   The book will be presented this afternoon at the Euskal Erria Basque Club in the Uruguayan capital.  An Anonymous Basque on an American Adventure is the latest work by Enrique Yarza Rovira (Montevideo, 1969) whose subtitle is: Testimony of Migration of our Elusive Ancestor, Juan Martin Beracochea, to the Minas Mountains (Uruguay).

It talks about Juan Martin Beracochea’s wanderings after his arrival to Uruguay after the Independence.  In publishing this work, Yarza supports the importance of the role that the anonymous immigrants played in the history of Uruguay. “And to fulfill this desire, we chose a silent voice, the life of one of our ancestors: Martin Beracochea, a Basque immigrant that joined the flood of immigration that arrived to the country after its independence.  In the majority of cases, the Basque characters whose memories remain are those who carried out some heroic deed, or who were relevant either socially or politically.”

“Certainly not all Basque transcended.  Many immigrants remained hidden under a cloak of anonymity, as is the case of this one that comes to light today.  Of these, we barely know their names when they were relevant in situations that are worth remembering, at the same time they were founders of families that are still part of our society,” Yarza Rovira added.

Enrique Javier Yarza Rovira was born in Montevideo in 1969.  He received a Ph.D. in Social Sciences form the University of the Republic (1997), and got his degree in History from the Catholic University of Uruguay (2001).  He is a member of the Institute of Genealogical Studies in Uruguay since 1992, and was president of the same from 2003-2009.  He is a member of the American Academy of Genealogy and an honorary member of several genealogical institutions in Latin America.  Among his publications are: The Origin of the Last Name Basualdo in Uruguay 1996), The Quiros, an Ancient Family from Rio de la Plata (co-authored with Hernan Lux Wurm, 2002); Genesis and Evolution of Miscegenation in Rio de la Plata (2009); The Families of the Eastern Southwest in the Eyes of the Censuses, XVIII Century (Presentation at the XVIII Ibero-American Conference of Genealogy, Salt Lake City, 2014);  Genealogy of Founding Families in Minas during the Hispanic Period 1783-1810 Volume1 (coauthored with Jorge Ferreira, 2014).

The book presentation will take place at 7pm at the Euskal Erria Basque Club in Montevideo, (San Jose 1168).  Attending will be Carmen Caluzzo (representing Rumbo), Professor Maria Emilia Perez Santarcieri and Dr. Carlos Zubillaga along with the author himself, Enrique Yarza Rovira.