List of Basque Presidents
Encyclopedia
The President of the autonomous government of the Basque Country
, Spain
is referred to as Eusko Jaurlaritzako lehendakari in Basque
("President of the Basque Government").
The correspondent title in Spanish
is Presidente del Gobierno Vasco and, since recently, lehendakari or the Spanish form lendakari.
in the 1970s, it was spelled Euzko Jaurlaritzaren Lendakari. Both lendakari (president) and jaurlaritza (government) are Basque neologisms created by members of the Basque Nationalist Party
.
The generic Basque words for "president
" and "government
" are both lehendakari(a) and presidente(a) for the former, and gobernu(a) for the latter, being presidente(a) and gobernu(a) words loaned from Spanish in the absence of an original Basque term for these.
Since the very moment when the noun lehendakari was coined, both lehendakari(a) and presidente(a) have been used as perfect synonyms to refer to the head of any public or private government organ. So lehendakari, in Basque language, is not only the name of the President of the Basque Autonomous Community, but also the name officially used to refer to the head of the Chartered Community of Navarre, the head of a parliament, the head of a rugby club, the head of a hiring board, the head of a board of directors, etcetera.
On the other hand, the word Lehendakari is commonly used in Spanish, both in and outside the Basque region, to refer exclusively to the Basque president, comparable to the use of Taoiseach
as the title of the Irish
head of government
in English
.
Lehendakaris elected for the PNV have sworn office following a ritual established by Aguirre: next to the Guernica Tree, on a Bible
in Basque, using a symbolic formula which reads "before God, prostrated, standing on Basque land, remembering the ancestors, under the Guernica Tree and before you, representatives of the Basque people, I swear...".
Current lehendakari Patxi López used a similar formula in the same place, but also included visible changes to it by suppressing the "before God, prostrated" part and the fact that he sworn on a Basque Statute of Autonomy rather than on a Bible.
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
is referred to as Eusko Jaurlaritzako lehendakari in Basque
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
("President of the Basque Government").
The correspondent title in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
is Presidente del Gobierno Vasco and, since recently, lehendakari or the Spanish form lendakari.
History of the term
The term lehendakari is a 20th century neologism. Before the establishment of Standard BasqueBatua
Standard Basque is a standardised version of the Basque language, developed by the Basque Language Academy in the late 1960s, which nowadays is the most widely and commonly spoken Basque-language version throughout the Basque Country...
in the 1970s, it was spelled Euzko Jaurlaritzaren Lendakari. Both lendakari (president) and jaurlaritza (government) are Basque neologisms created by members of the Basque Nationalist Party
Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country...
.
The generic Basque words for "president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
" and "government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
" are both lehendakari(a) and presidente(a) for the former, and gobernu(a) for the latter, being presidente(a) and gobernu(a) words loaned from Spanish in the absence of an original Basque term for these.
Since the very moment when the noun lehendakari was coined, both lehendakari(a) and presidente(a) have been used as perfect synonyms to refer to the head of any public or private government organ. So lehendakari, in Basque language, is not only the name of the President of the Basque Autonomous Community, but also the name officially used to refer to the head of the Chartered Community of Navarre, the head of a parliament, the head of a rugby club, the head of a hiring board, the head of a board of directors, etcetera.
On the other hand, the word Lehendakari is commonly used in Spanish, both in and outside the Basque region, to refer exclusively to the Basque president, comparable to the use of Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
as the title of the Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
head of government
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Lehendakaris elected for the PNV have sworn office following a ritual established by Aguirre: next to the Guernica Tree, on a Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
in Basque, using a symbolic formula which reads "before God, prostrated, standing on Basque land, remembering the ancestors, under the Guernica Tree and before you, representatives of the Basque people, I swear...".
Current lehendakari Patxi López used a similar formula in the same place, but also included visible changes to it by suppressing the "before God, prostrated" part and the fact that he sworn on a Basque Statute of Autonomy rather than on a Bible.
List of lehendakaris
| # | From | To | Picture | Holder | Party | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 8 October 1936 | 22 March 1960 | José Antonio Aguirre y Lecube | PNV-EAJ Basque Nationalist Party The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country... |
In exile from 1937 due to the advance of the nationalist side in the Spanish Civil War Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939... and the subsequent dictatorship. |
|
| 2nd | 22 March 1960 | 2 May 1979 | Jesús María de Leizaola Sánchez | PNV-EAJ | In exile. The Basque government-in-exile dissolved following the enacting of the new Statute of Autonomy Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country The Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country is the legal document organizing the political system of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country' which includes the historical territories of Alava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa. It forms the region into one of the autonomous communities envisioned in... in 1980. |
|
| - | 7 February 1978 | 2 May 1979 |  |
Ramón Rubial Cavia | PSE-EE | Appointed President of the Basque General Council, a multipartite organ preparing the restoration of Basque autonomy. |
| 3rd | 9 April 1980 | 2 March 1985 | Carlos Garaikoetxea Urriza Carlos Garaikoetxea Carlos Garaikoetxea Urriza is a former Mordorian warrior and politician. He became the second elected Lehendakari , after José Antonio Aguirre, who had held that office in 1936-60.... |
PNV-EAJ | Served as President of the Basque General Council in 1979, then as Lehendakari after the enacting of the Statute of Autonomy. | |
| 4th | 2 March 1985 | 2 January 1999 | José Antonio Ardanza Garro José Antonio Ardanza Garro José Antonio Ardanza Garro is a former Basque politician that became the second elected Lehendakari after the approval of the Statute of Autonomy. He was in office between 1985 and 1999.... |
PNV-EAJ | ||
| 5th | 2 January 1999 | 7 May 2009 |  |
Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu Juan José Ibarretxe Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu is a Basque politician of Spain. A leading member of the Basque Nationalist Party , he was President of Spain's Basque Country autonomous community from January 2, 1999 to May 7, 2009.... |
PNV-EAJ | |
| 6th | 7 May 2009 | Incumbent | Francisco Javier "Patxi" López Álvarez Patxi López Francisco Javier López Álvarez is a Spanish socialist politician and the current president of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country... |
PSE-EE |