José María Iparraguirre — a remark

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“With no motive but love for my countrymen.”

Original: Sin más opinión que el amor a mis paisanos. — This was the plain reason the fourteen-year-old gave for slipping away to fight, well before he became the voice behind the Tree of Gernika · Recollection of his 1833 flight from home to join the Basque battalions (Spanish)

About José María Iparraguirre

José María Iparraguirre

12 August 1820–6 April 1881

José María Iparraguirre Balerdi was born on 12 August 1820 in Urretxu, Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country, and died on 6 April 1881 in Itsaso, near his native district. He occupies an unusual and enduring place in Basque cultural history: he was at once a poet, singer, guitarist, wandering performer, Carlist veteran…

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“God forbid that any bloody struggle should come to darken our picturesque mountains with mourning; let every good Spaniard refrain from taking up arms, whether in the Carlist or the republican cause.”

Original: No permita Dios que ninguna lucha sangrienta venga a enlutar nuestras pintorescas montañas, absténganse todo buen español de pronunciamiento sea en sentido carlista o republicano. — Written by a former Carlist soldier, the letter shows a man wearied by faction and longing for peace among his own people · Letter to the Urretxu town council, 1 September 1869 (Spanish)

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