Xabier Irujo, Ph.D.

Director of Center for Basque Studies; Professor
Xabier Irujo

Summary

Born in exile in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1967, Xabier Irujo is the director of the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he is professor of genocide studies. He was the first guest research scholar of the Manuel Irujo Chair at the University of Liverpool and has taught seminars on genocide and cultural genocide at Boise State University and at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He holds three master’s degrees in linguistics, history and philosophy and has two Ph.D.'s in history and philosophy. Irujo has lectured in nearly 100 American and European universities and academic or cultural institutions (typically governments, parliaments, museums and libraries.) He has published on issues related to Basque history and politics and has specialized along his career in genocide studies with a focus on physical and cultural extermination. He has mentored numerous graduate students and he is the member of the editorial board of four academic presses in Europe and the Americas. Irujo has authored more than 15 books and a number of articles in specialized journals and has received awards and honors at national and international level. His recent books include Gernika: Genealogy of a Lie (Sussex Academic Press, 2018), Gernika 1937: The Market Day Massacre (Nevada University Press, 2015) and Legal History of the Basque Language (HAEE, Bilbao, 2015).

Research interests

  • Genocide
  • Terror bombing
  • Exile

Courses taught

  • Genocide studies
  • Transnational Identity

Selected books

  • Irujo, Xabier, Gernika: Genealogy of a Lie, Sussex Academic Press, Eastbourne, 2018. 165 pp. ISBN: 978-1-84519-975-3.
  • Irujo, Xabier, Gernika: 26 de abril de 1937, Crítica, Barcelona, 2017. 381 pp. ISBN: 9788416771738.
  • Irujo, Xabier, Gernika 1937: The Market Day Massacre, University of Nevada Press, Reno, 2015. 318 pp. ISBN: 978-0874179781.
  • Irujo, Xabier; Urrutia, Iñigo, Historia jurídica de la lengua vasca (1789-2009), IVAP-HAEE / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Bilbao, 2014. 768 pp. ISBN: 978-0-692200-16-2.
  • Irujo, Xabier, Simón Bolívar y la Constitución Boliviana: Un Proyecto para una Federación, BFA-Bolibar, Bilbao, 2014. 416 pp. ISBN: 978-0692239216.
  • Irujo, Xabier; Irigoyen, Alberto, La hora vasca del Uruguay. Génesis y desarrollo del nacionalismo vasco en Uruguay (1825-1960), Sociedad de Confraternidad Vasca Euskal Erria, Montevideo (Uruguay), 2014. 600 pp. ISBN 978-84-936190-5-3.
  • Irujo, Xabier, Giving Birth to Cosmopolis: The Code of Laws of Estella (c. 1076), Barandiaran Chair of Basque Studies – University of California, Santa Barbara, 2013. 344 pp. ISBN: 978-0-9846900-2-2.
  • Irujo, Xabier, Expelled from the Motherland: The Government of President Jose Antonio Agirre in Exile (1937 - 1960), Center for Basque Studies - University of Nevada, Reno, 2012. 350 pp. ISBN: 978-1-935709-06-0.
  • Irujo, Xabier; Cenarrusa, Pete, On Basque Politics. Conversations with Pete Cenarrusa, European Research Institute (EURI), Brussels, 2012. 484 pp. ISBN: 978-0-9846900-1-5.
  • Ibarra, Pedro; Irujo, Xabier (Eds.), Basque Political Systems, Center for Basque Studies - University of Nevada, Reno, 2011. 290 pp. ISBN: 978-1-935709-03-9.
  • Irujo, Xabier, Homo Spelens, Utriusque Vasconiae, Donostia / San Sebastián, 2009. 224 pp. ISBN: 978-84-937213-0-5.
  • Irujo, Xabier, Euskal erbeste politikoa Uruguain (1943-1955). Eusko jaurlaritzaren administrazioa eta kanpo ekintza atzerrian, Herri Arduralaritzaren Euskal Erakundea/Institute for Public Administration of the Basque Government, Oñati, 2005. 616 pp. ISBN 84-777-281-9.

Recent awards and honors

  • 2018 Gernika Prize for Peace and Reconciliation by the Gernika city council.
  • 2017 Gernika Plaque by the Euskal Erria Basque Society in Uruguay.
  • 2015 Chair Fellow at the University of Liverpool.
  • 2013 Jesus Maria Leizaola Saria mention for the manuscript Historia Jurídica de la Lengua Vasca (1789-2009) on cultural genocide in the Basque Country by the Basque Institute of Public Administration (HAEE-IVAP).
  • 2006 Andrés Irujo Saria award for the manuscript La Sociedad de Confraternidad Vasca Euskal Erria de Montevideo by the Basque Government.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

  • Ph.D., political philosophy, University of the Basque Country, 2011
  • Ph.D., history, State University of Navarre, 2004
  • M.A./B.A., political philosophy and philosophy of science, 1998
  • M.A./B.A., European political history, 1995
  • M.A./B.A., Romance linguistics, languages and literature 1992