Basque StudiesFACULTY OF SOCIAL AND HUMAN SCIENCES

In 1974, the University of Deusto, in collaboration with the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, created the Department of Biscayan Studies, which was based at the University itself. The Department was governed by a Board of Trustees with equal representation from the University and the Provincial Council, and it included three chairs (History, Law, and Linguistics), as well as a specialized library. Its activities encompassed teaching, research, and public dissemination in all areas related to Basque culture.

Five years later, on November 21, 1979, the Department of Biscayan Studies was transformed into the present Institute of Basque Studies, attached to the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University. The new Institute came under the authority of the teaching unit, while continuing to receive institutional support from the Provincial Council of Bizkaia. In 2009, the University of Deusto began a process of restructuring its faculties, schools, and institutes, and the Institute of Basque Studies was subsequently attached to the newly created Faculty of Social and Human Sciences.

Over the course of nearly fifty years, the Institute has been directed by prominent figures in Basque culture: Ramón Areitio Rodrigo (on an interim basis until December 1974), Andrés Eliseo de Mañaricúa y Nuere (1974–1979), Patxi Altuna Bengoechea (1979–1991, with José Ramón Scheifler Amézaga as deputy director), Rosa Miren Pagola Petrirena (1991–1999), Santiago Larrazabal Basañez (1999–2009), Nerea Mujika Ulazia (2009–2016), and Elixabete Perez Gaztelu (2017–2025).

Since 2026, the Institute has been directed by Larraitz Ariznabarreta.