02 December 2025
San Sebastian Campus
On Tuesday, 2 December, the ONDARE PRIZE 2025 was awarded posthumously to Elena Barrena Osoro, recognised for her outstanding work in the research, preservation and dissemination of Gipuzkoa’s historical heritage. This prize, awarded by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, recognises those who make significant contributions to the understanding and transmission of the territory’s history and culture.
The Jury highlighted her “extraordinary contribution to research and the dissemination of Basque history,” as well as her “furthering of knowledge on the historical evolution of Gipuzkoa.” In the year marking a thousand years since the first written mention of Gipuzkoa, the Provincial Council deemed it fitting to honour the scholar who interpreted and gave meaning to that Ipuscoa, renewing the perspective of Gipuzkoan historiography through her doctoral thesis “Transformations in the social organisation of a cantabrian territory during the medieval period: the historical reform of Guipúzcoa”, as well as in her subsequent work.
The award ceremony took place in the plenary hall of Eibar Town Hall, the hometown of the recipient, and was attended by family, colleagues, students and friends. The laudatio was delivered by David Zapirain and Eider Landaberea, who emphasised her identity as a “teacher” in the broadest sense of the word, and recalled her career at the University of Deusto, highlighting her key contributions to teaching, research and academic management.
The prize was received by Iñaki Esnaola and Nora Esnaola, the widower and daughter of the honouree.
