Bilintx

Who was Bilintx?

Indalecio Bizcarrondo, also known as Bilintx was a Basque improvisational poet or bertsolari living in Spain, who wrote largely in the Basque language. He associated in the liberal circles of the city, with the likes of Serafin Baroja and Manterola, in the period extending between the two main Carlist Wars.

The imprint of his life's experiences, including a number of accidents and failed love affairs, are evident in his poetry. He is considered a Romantic in style, and was an enthusiastic reader of Spanish romantic poets such as Becquer. He worked also in the bertso paperak style, producing poems on sheets of paper that could be sold loose and sung by the people, some of which caught on in popular culture. Bein batian Loyolan remains one of his most memorable poems, nowadays sung to a John Denver's tune popularised by the local music band Egan in the 1980s.

He was killed by a Carlist grenade shelled on Donostia-San Sebastián on the San Sebastian Day during the Second Carlist War. Coincidentally, he died after months of suffering the same day the Charters were abolished on 21 July 1876.