• Source: Basque Chileans

Many Basques arrived in Chile in the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and early 20th century from their homeland in northern Spain (see Basque Provinces) and parts of southwestern France, as conquistadors, soldiers, sailors, merchants, priests and labourers. Due to their traditional hard work and entrepreneurship, many of them rose to the top of the social scale and intermarried into the Chilean elites of Castilian descent, giving birth to the new Basque-Chilean aristocracy in Chile. This union is the basis of the Chilean elite of today. But also, they immensely contributed to the ethnic make up of the bulk of the Chilean population. The Basque settlers also intermarried into the Mestizo and Castizo population of central Chile in the middle of the colonial period to form the large Criollo population that exists in Chile today; Castizos create modern middle and lower classes. Many years after the first waves of settlers, thousands of Basque refugees fleeing Spanish Civil War in 1939 also settled and have many descendants in the country and have even intermarried with Spanish ethnic groups other than Castilians, and other European ethnic groups. An estimated 1.6 million (10%) to 5 million (30%) Chileans have a surname (one or both) of Basque origin. This figure is to the least as the number of Basque descendence is great and plentiful. Due to Basque migration, Chile has a higher number of people of Basque descent than the Basque Country itself.
Miguel de Unamuno once said: "There are at least two things that clearly can be attributed to the Basques: the Society of Jesus and the Republic of Chile."




History


The Basque presence in Chile began in the Conquista period, for in the armies of the first colonizers came an important number of soldiers from the Basque Provinces and from Navarra. In the 16th century, of the 157 Peninsular families that settled in Chile, 39 had Basque surnames. This number progressively grew, as reflected in the number of governors of Basque origin.
Forms a regional immigration corridor between Spain and Chile, one that is large, visible, and continues over time. Basque immigration can be divided into historical periods: discovery, foundation, and colonial period; the wave of immigration of the 18th century; and the recent immigrants (19th and 20th centuries).
During the 18th century, the country experimented a mass immigration coming from the Basque provinces and Navarre, by the end of the 18th century represents 30% of the Chilean population. This raised the Basques to being the most important regional group in the population, displacing the natives and descendants of those born in New Castile, Old Castile, and Andalucía. These immigrant families initially dedicated themselves to their preferred form of business, and in successive years produced many alliances with families of Castilian origin possessing lands and titles, giving birth to a new social group known in Chilean history as the Castilian-Basque aristocracy; others integrated with the castizo middle class.
In the second half of the 19th century came a new wave of Basque immigration, this time as much from the Spanish regions as the French. This migratory flood are extended until the end of the Spanish Civil War.




Notable Basque-Chileans


A list of well known Chileans of Basque descendence is too great to name but the following shows a short list of some.

Pedro Aguirre Cerda, President of Chile (1938–1941)
Isabel Allende, writer
Salvador Allende, President of Chile (1970–1973)
Maricarmen Arrigorriaga, actress
José Manuel Balmaceda, President of Chile (1886–1891)
Manuel Baquedano, Commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army during the War of the Pacific
Juan Guzman Cruchaga (1895–1979) was a Chilean poet and diplomat. He won the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1962
Alberto Blest Gana, writer and diplomat
Felipe Camiroaga, actor and TV host
Javiera Carrera, patriot
José Miguel Carrera, Army general, President of the Government Junta and hero of the War of Chilean Independence
Federico Errázuriz Zañartu, President of Chile (1871–1876)
Domingo Eyzaguirre, politician
Lucho Gatica, Bolero singer, actor and television host of Chilean Basque descent
Alejandro Gorostiaga, Army officer
Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, Jesuit priest and saint
Marta Larraechea, former First Lady of Chile (1994–2000)
Alberto Larraguibel, Army officer and equestrian
Fernando Larraín, actor
Hernán Larraín, politician
María Eugenia Larraín, model
Roberto Matta Echaurren, painter
Pablo Neruda, poet and Nobel laureate
Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, Army general, Supreme Director and hero of the War of Chilean Independence
Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, Army General and military dictator (1973–1990)
Sebastián Piñera Echenique, President of Chile (2010–2014, 2018–2022)
Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, guerrilla fighter and hero of the War of Chilean Independence
Fernando Solabarrieta, journalist and sports commentator
Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, politician, historian and writer
Paz Yrarrázaval, actress
Adolfo Zaldívar, politician
Andrés Zaldívar, politician
Aníbal Zañartu, politician




Notable Basque-Chilean families


Allende family
Balmaceda family
Carrera family
Cruchaga family
Dagorret family
Larraín family
Vergara family




See also



Italian Chilean
British Chilean
German Chilean




References






External links


Imaginarios vascos desde Chile La construcción de imaginarios vascos en Chile durante el siglo XX

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Basque Chileans
• Castilian-Basque aristocracy
• Chileans
• Basque diaspora
• Basques
• Immigration to Chile
• Balmaceda family
• Basque pelota
• Italian Chileans
• Spanish Chileans