Basque Firsts ─ People Who Changed the World

Throughout history, Basque men and women have made contributions in navigation, education, science, fashion, politics, and many other fields. Too often these achievements have been overlooked, or have been claimed as the accomplishments of others. Basque Firsts: People Who Changed the World profiles seven remarkable Basques who were the first in their fields to do something—something extraordinary—that had a dramatic impact on others who followed them.
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The profiles use primary sources to tell fresh stories and offer a wonderful variety, showing the astonishing breadth of Basque contributions. They include Juan Sebastian Elcano, the first person to circumnavigate the earth; St. Ignatius of Loyola, the first Jesuit to seed a worldwide movement in education; Santiago Ramon y Cajal, the Father of Neurology and a Nobel laureate; Cristobal Balenciaga, the king of haute couture; Paul Laxalt, one of Ronald Reagan’s closest friends in politics; and Edurne Pasaban, the first woman to climb the world’s fourteen tallest mountains.
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Basque Firsts provides a rare look at a culture’s people, revealing the significant contributions they have shared.
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Vince J. Juaristi, a native of Elko, Nevada, earned an MA in public policy from Harvard University at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is the president and CEO of a management consulting company in Alexandria, Virginia. Juaristi is the author of Back to Bizkaia: A Basque-American Memoir. He often returns home to Nevada to support local Basque programs.
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