Political and Literary Speeches

In 1907, Arturo Campión (Pamplona-Iruñea, 1854 – Donostia-San Sebastián, 1937), one of the most celebrated Basque intellectuals of his time, compiled his Discursos políticos y literarios (Political and Literary Speeches), a book made up of fourteen short texts, produced between 1891 and 1906, based on speeches and talks given at different political and cultural acts. Through these speeches one sees the evolution of Campión’s thought in regard to history, law, and politics throughout those years of great foral agitation, in which the Navarrese scholar witnessed the collapse of what had been pillars of identity in his native land: the legal system, Basque-Navarrese institutions, and the Basque language. In his work he defended the Basque language, law, and the historic institutions, establishing a doctrine that a  major influence on Basque culture and politics in the decades that followed.