José Antonio Aguirre

Who was José Antonio Aguirre?

José Antonio Aguirre y Lecube was a political figure of the Basque Nationalism, the first president of the Basque Autonomous Community, from 1936 to 1960.

He assumed the position of first lehendakari or president of Euzkadi during the Spanish Civil War. However, by the moment the Government was put together and made effective, most of the Basque region was occupied by the military rebels' troops, except for Biscay. Given the dire circumstances, he set about creating a Basque Army to fight on the side of the Republic.

After losing the war, he had to organize the flight of thousands of refugees in the Basque Country. He helped the Allies in the Second World War looking forward to be helped to fight Francisco Franco in Spain. He escaped from Spain to Belgium, later to Nazi Germany and spent there a year with a false passport. He went to Argentina to begin a journey in the American continent to re-organize the Basque government in the exile. He finally settled in Paris and spent his last years there, working for the Basque refugees.