Domingo de Aguirre Badiola (Ondárroa 1864 – Zumaya 1920), born into a poor peasant family, was ordained a priest at the age of 24 and spent his life as chaplain to a Carmelite convent.

Following his Spanish-language debut in 1895, his first Basque-language historical novel, Auñamendiko lorea (“The flower of the Pyrenees”), appeared in 1898. It evoked the Basques’ Christianization in the 7th century, was deeply indebted to the Romantic patterns established by fuerista authors such as Vicente de Arana, Juan de Iturralde y Suit, or Juan Venancio Ariquistain, and drew its historical setting from Amaya o los vascos en el siglo VIII (“Amaya, or the Basques in the eighth century”, 1879) by Francisco Navarro Villoslada.

Auñamendiko lorea had little success; the author turned towards local colour and costumes in subsequent works, pre-published in several cultural magazines. Kresala (“Salt residue”, 1906) describes sailor traditions of the coast. Garoa (“Fern”, 1912) narrates the rural life in a baserri-type farmstead, highlighting the natural beauty of the landscape. Towards the end of his life, Aguirre returned to the historical novel with the unfinished Ni ta ni (“I and I”), thematizing medieval feuds, of which the early parts appeared in 1917 in the review Euskal-Esnalea.

Aguirre, who came from a Carlist background, remained a traditionalist all his life and rejected his country’s social and economical modernization. His writings idealize the past and emphasize love for the family, honesty, industriousness, and religiosity. Aguirre is considered to be one of the main creators of the Basque novel. Religious poet and translator, he cooperated with the most relevant cultural periodicals in the Basque Country, such as Euskal Erria, Euskalzale, or Jaungoiko zale.