The Basque Country (pdf, 4,3Mb) - Kultura Saila - Euskadi.net

There are two private universities in Euskadi. University of
Deusto (Jesuit run), the oldest of the two (1886), educated the
elite classes throughout the twentieth century. The school has nine
campuses, serving 16,000 students, and 600 instructors, and has
undergone major changes in the past thirty years. The University
of Mondragón (an initiative of the cooperative enterprise system)
is the most recent, linked to the business and technical world.
Navarre has two universities: the public university of Navarre
(Universidad Pública de Navarra) and the long-established private
University of Navarre (run by Opus Dei).
University of the Basque Country, Leioa campus, Bizkaia.
Iparralde does not have its own university (one of the public
grievances); instead, there is a branch network attached to the
universities of Bordeaux and Hegoalde which offers Engineering,
Sciences and Law studies.
Historically, there were a number of other institutions of higher
learning: the Benedictine University of Philosophy and Theology
of Iratxe (late sixteenth century until 1824), the Dominican
University of Santiago (1630-1770) in Pamplona-Iruña, and the
University of Oñati, which opened its doors in 1540 as “Universidad
de Sancti Spiritus” to students of Law, Theology and Medicine.
La Real Sociedad Bascongada de los Amigos del País (Royal Society
of Friends of the Basque Country) goes back to the eighteenth century
when a group of people would gather at Palacio Insausti, the Count
of Peñafloridaʼs Azkoitia residence. The guests were well-off people
who had travelled around Europe, were familiar with the industrial
and cultural advances of other countries, and were frustrated at the
panorama in the Basque Country at the time. The society was created in
Bergara in 1765. Among its members were some of the most important
reformers of the era: Olavide, Arriquivar, Ibañez de la Rentería...
From time it was created, the RSBAP was involved in culture, education,
science and moral issue. It was responsible for founding the “Real
Seminario Patriótico de Vergara” (1776-1796), a seminary which hired
some of the most noteworthy instructors in Europe (Proust, Chavaneau,
Brisseau...), as well as Basques, including the Elhuyar brothers, Erro,
Mas, Santibáñez and Foronda. The seminary enjoyed great prestige all
Europe-wide for its work with steel, improving ironworking techniques
and being the first institution to cast platinum. Today the members
publish books and journals, including the RSBAP newsletter and Egan).
The societyʼs headquarters is located in Palacio Insausti.
La Sociedad Económica Tudelana de Amigos de País (1773),
founded by the Marquis of San Adrián, played a similar role in
southern Navarre (roads, water channels, etc.).
Eusko Ikaskuntza-Sociedad de Estudios Vascos (Society of Basque
Studies) is a scientific institution created in 1918 at the express wish
of the provincial councils of Araba, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Navarre.
The main goal was to create an agency which would solidify, unify
and spearhead the rebirth of Basque culture and provide a platform
for all those interested in promoting its development. The society
was banned under Franco rule, from 1936 to 1976, when it launched
a new phase. The organisation has nearly three thousand members
active in fifteen areas of science (Anthropology/Ethnography, History
and Geography, Education, Social Sciences…).
A new generation of members, spread across all of Euskal Herria,
has given the EI-SEV a younger profile. In addition to research, the
organisation also focuses on education (i.e. the Jakitez programme).
It sponsors regular Basque Studies Congresses on currently topics,
and publishes an average of forty books a year. It is also responsible
for publishing Cuadernos de Sección, the Journal of Basque Studies
(RIEV), a monthly newsletter called Asmoz ta Jakitez, and the weekly
online journal Euskonews & Media at euskonews.com.
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University of Deusto,
Bilbao.
The most recent university was created
in Mondragón, Gipuzkoa, promoted by
the cooperative movement.