COFRADIA DE NUESTRA SEÑORA DE ARANZAZU DE LIMA 1612-2012

EuskalKultura.com

The society of the Virgin de Arantzazu in Lima is revived to celebrate the 400 anniversary of its foundation

2012-07-25

The society of the Virgin of Arantzazu, that was founded 400 years ago, has come out of oblivion to be renewed as of February 13 of this year by public deed, even though its official reactivation will take place next November with an ample program commemorating its 400 anniversary including planting a sapling of the Tree of Gernika in Lima among other activities. The re-foundation of the society, as a Basque club, expressed its promoters, was conducted in the presence of several businessmen of Basque origin in the emblematic and historic Club Nacional of Lima. Its specific purpose is to honor those who founded the society in the 17 century that functioned until 1865 when it was closed by the Peruvian government who also seized its assets and gave them to a public charity, they recall.

Lima, Peru. The 400 anniversary will be celebrated by publishing a commemorative book, a historical-cultural forum with the participation of members of the Latin America Basque world, plating a sapling of the Tree of Gernika and a tribute to the martyrs of the tragedy of Gernika, among others, as indicated by John Bazan Aguilar, who is in charge of Oiga magazine in Lima and one of the supporters of the enterprise.

Supporters also want to honor the Peruvian-Basque journalist Francisco Igartua Rovira, posthumously, who initiated the steps to revive the society in Lima, in the form of an award for those who stood out in defense of the Rule of Law and Democratic Values that were constant during his professional life.

This award will be decided on by a jury chaired by the painter Fernando de Szyszlo, who chairs the Editorial Board of the Oiga magazine founded by Igartua. At the II World Congress of Basque communities, Igartua issued a document with the history of the founding of the society of Lima, bringing its statutes to light, which as he indicated then, had served for the foundation of other similar societies in other parts of the world where Basque communities were found.

Mentioning Igartua opened the way for a dedicated group of contributors and personal friends to not only rescue his journalistic heritage, but also the history of the society of the Virgin of Arantzazu which is now revived after 400 years of silence, concludes the note sent to EuskalKultura.com.