Tirso de Olazábal y Lardizábal, 1st Count of Arbelaiz, 1st Count of Oria (28 January 1842 – 25 November 1921), was a Spanish noble and Carlist politician.
Family and early life
Origins
Tirso Julián Francisco José Ramón María de Olazábal y Lardizábalnot to be confused with another Carlist politician named Olazábal, both distantly related. Juan de Olazábal Ramery (b. 1702) and Domingo de Olazábal Ramery (b. 1703) were brothers; Tirso Olazábal Lardizábal was the great-great-grandson of the latter, while Juan Olazábal Ramery was the great-great-great-grandson of the former; for simplified genealogical tree showing relationship between the two, see here was born into a distinguished and aristocratic Basque family, with many of its members recorded in history of the region.see the Olazábal family explained at Euskalnet service, available here, interesting sourced personal data at Enredo service available here, see also a gallery of famous Guipuzcoan Olazábals at Ingeba service available here The Olazábal family is reputed to be one of the first settlers of the province of Guipúzcoa, taking part in the exploits of Cantabria. They also contributed to the restoration of Spain with Pelagius of Asturias and accompanied Ferdinand the Saint in the Siege of Seville and in several incursions into Andalusia. Considered to be a chief lineage or a lineage of "Elder Relatives" (Parientes Mayores) of Guipúzcoa, its founders owned the fief of Alzo, where they possessed the patronat of San Salvador Church. The first official document of the province of Guipúzcoa, dated 1025, attributes to the Olazábal family the property of 300 caseríos (villages) in the place of Alzo.
Tirso's ancestors can safely be traced back to the 14th century. More recently, his great-grandfather, Domingo José de Olazábal y Aranzate,see Domingo José de Olazábal y Aranzate entry at Geni genealogical service available here was alcalde of Irun in 1767 and 1778.Antonio Gaytán de Ayala Artázcoz, Parientes mayores de Guipúzcoa: señores del palacio casa-fuerte de Murguía en Astigarraga, [in:] Revista Internacional de los Estudios Vascos, París 1934, p. 375 His son and Tirso's grandfather, José Joaquín Cecilio María de Olazábal y Murguía (1763–1804),see José Joaquín Cecilio María de Olazábal y Murguía entry at Geni genealogical service available here served in the navy and is listed as teniente de fragata.Emilio de Cárdenas Piera, Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent, Caballeros de la Orden de Santiago, siglo XVIII: Años 1778 a 1788, Madrid 1994, , 9788487204616, p. 221 His oldest son and Tirso's father, José Joaquín María Robustiano de Olazábal y Olaso (1794–1865),see José Joaquín María Robustiano de Olazábal y Olaso entry at Geni genealogical service available here between 1828 and 1845 was many times elected to the Guipuzcoan Diputación.Xabier Lasalle, José Joaquín de Olazabal Arbelaiz entry, [in:] Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia, available here He is better known as a cartographer, which suggests that he was also a military, serving either in the army or in the navy.none of the sources consulted provides any information on his profession In 1836 together with Francisco de Palacios he published a map of Guipúzcoa,see Gallica digital library available here re-worked later in another version, issued in 1849.see Biblioteca Digital Hispanica available here
Tirso's mother was María Lorenza de Lardizábal y Otazu (1806–1889);Olazabal at Euskalnet, also María Lorenza Luisa de Lardizábal y Otazu entry at Geni genealogical service, available here his maternal grandfather, Juan Antonio de Lardizábal y Altuna, XII Lord ("Señor") of Laurgain and VII Lord ("Señor") of Amézqueta, was among the largest landowners in Guipúzcoa. As head of the Lardizábal family, he inherited the palace of the same name located in Segura and owned other provincial estates.named Vicuña and Plazaola, Anales De La Real Academia Matritense De Heráldica y Genealogía. Homenaje a Don Faustino Menéndez Pidal de Navascués 8/1 (2004), pp. 445–446 His maternal grandmother, María Benita Ruiz de Otazu y Valencegui, also belonged to distinguished families of the Basque aristocracy. Among her ancestors are the Idiáquez of Azcoitia (later Dukes of Granada de Ega), the Counts of Peñaflorida and the Marquesses of Rocaverde. One of Tirso's maternal great-great-grandfathers, Manuel Ignacio de Altuna y Portu (1722–1762), was a major figure of Enlightenment in Spain. Encyclopedist and scholar, Altuna became known for his friendship with Jean-Jacques Rousseau (who mentions him in his Confessions, calling him the "virtuous Altuna"), to whom he was introduced in Venice during his Grand Tour in the 1740s. Along with the Count of Peñaflorida and the Marquis of Narros, he founded the Royal Basque Society of Friends of the Country (known as La Bascongada) in Bergara, in 1748. The three men came to be known as the "Gentlemen of Azkoitia" (Los Caballeritos de Azcoitia) or the "Triumvirate of Azkoitia" (Triunvirato de Azcoitia).
Early years
The young Tirso was first educated in the prestigious Jesuit college of de la SauvePaul Albert, La propagande étrangère en Espagne dans le premier tiers du XXe siècle, [in:] Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez 31 (1995) p. 122, also Biografías de los diputados á Córtes de la Asamblea constituyente de 1869, redactadas por una sociedad de literatos, vol. 1, Madrid 1869, p. 541 near Bordeaux, where he is reported to have pursued philosophy.Francisco de Paula Oller, Album de Personajes Carlistas con sus biografias, volume 3, Barcelona 1888, p. 63 He completed his curriculum studying mathematics at the Lycée privé Sainte-Geneviève in Paris; no further details are known.Oller 1888, p. 63; prior to 1891 elections he was once named "abogado", see La Union Católica 19.06.90, available here From his youth he developed keen interest in music, his favourite composer having been Mozart;Biografías de los diputados á Córtes... 1869, p. 542 in the early 1860s he set up 18 local bands across Guipúzcoa, allegedly gathering musicians from all social strata.Biografías de los diputados á Córtes... 1869, p. 542-3 In 1864 he won a gold medal on the Franco-Spanish art exhibition in Bayonne, directing an orchestra he created in Irun;Biografías de los diputados á Córtes... 1869, p. 542 he also kept directing local orchestral bands during various provincial feasts in the mid-1860s.La Esperanza 13.11.66, available here
With the death of his father in 1865, Tirso inherited part of his considerable wealth. Among other properties located in Guipúzcoa (spread over Azpeitia, Beasain, Beizama, Idiazabal and Lazcano), his legacy included the Arbelaiz Palace and its formidable private garden, in Irun, which had remained in the hands of his family since the reign of Philip II of Spain. This ancestral estate, which hosted various historical figures (Henry III of France, Catherine de' Medici, Charles IV of Lorraine, Catherine of Braganza, Philip V of Spain and Charles X of France, etc.) and owes its name to the powerful family who built it in the sixteenth century, passed by marriage to the Olazábal family after the wedding of Tirso's great-grandmother, the Dowager Marchioness of Valdespina, Maria Teresa de Murguía y Arbelaiz,Antonio Gaytán de Ayala Artázcoz, Parientes mayores de Guipúzcoa: señores del palacio casa-fuerte de Murguía en Astigarraga, [in:] Revista Internacional de los Estudios Vascos, París 1934, pp. 373–375 XV Lady (Señora) of Murguía and VI Lady (Señora) of Arbelaiz, with the above-mentioned Domingo José de Olazábal y Aranzate, in 1756. From his father, he also inherited the assets of the majorat (mayorazgo) of Abaria, founded in the seventeenth century by Francisco de Abaria, of whom Olazábal descended through his paternal grandmother, María Brígida de Olaso y Abaria. This majorat (mayorazgo) included, primarily, the Abaria Palace, in Villafranca de Oria, which during the Third Carlist War, and on the occasion of the Carlist Meeting that were held there, would provide accommodation to Carlos VII.
Marriage and family
In 1867 he marriedTirso Olazábal Lardizábal entry at Geneanet genealogical service available here Ramona Álvarez de Eulate y Moreda (1846–1927),Ramona Álvarez de Eulate y Moreda entry at Geneallnet service available here also from a noble lineagesee Eulate family explained at Euskalnet service, available here related mostly to Guipúzcoa and Navarre.Pantxike Kontreras, Agurain – Alvarez de Eulate, [in:] Pantxike service 2014, available here Ramona descended in the male line from Juan Álvarez de Eulate y Ladrón de Cegama, Governor of New Mexico between 1618 and 162 and later Castellan of Pamplona. Her father (like her grandfather), Rafael María Álvarez de Eulate y Acedo, was a military man; some sources describe him as infantry captainVíctor Pastor Abáigar, Capilla de Santa Isabel y su retablo de la Visitación en la iglesia de Santa María de Los Arcos, [in:] Príncipe de Viana 68 (2007), pp. 783–787 and some claim he was a navy lieutenant.Kontreras 2014 He owned the Mirafuentes landholding and partially estates of Yturbe, Inurrigarro, Monasteriobide and Jaúregui,Kontreras 2014 located in south-western Navarre and eastern Álava.
Tirso and Ramona had 11 children; the eldest son, Ramón, married Maria Luísa de Mendóça Rolim de Moura Barreto,see Maria Luísa de Mendóça Rolim de Moura Barreto entry at Geni genealogical service available here related to the Portuguese royal family as Infanta Ana de Jesus Maria of Portugal's granddaughter and John VI of Portugal's great-granddaughter. They settled in Portugal, scarcely involved in Spanish affairs; two of the younger ones, Tirso and especially Rafael, were active in the Carlist movement until the 1950s.Manuel Martorell Pérez, La continuidad ideológica del carlismo tras la Guerra Civil [PhD thesis in Historia Contemporanea, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia], Valencia 2009, p. 344
In March 1934, Rafael, alongside Carlist monarchist Antonio Lizarza and Alfonsine monarchists Antonio Goicoechea and Emilio Barrera, met the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and Italo Balbo, in Rome, in order to negotiate on a military agreement that would guarantee Italian support of their movements should a civil war erupt in Spain.Burnett Bolloten. The Spanish Civil War: revolution and counterrevolution. University of North Carolina Press, 1991. Pp. 11 Since 1930s advocating a dynastical rapprochement with the Alfonsinos,José Carlos Clemente Muñoz, El carlismo en el novecientos español (1876–1936), Madrid 1999, , 9788483741535, p. 79 in 1957 Rafael declared Don Juan the legitimate Carlist claimant.Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 432; Tirso Olazabal Eulate is not listed among the signatories of the so-called Acta de Estoril, José Carlos Clemente Muñoz, Historia del Carlismo Contemporaneo 1935–1972, Barcelona 1977, , 8425307600, p. 299 Their sister, Vicenta de Olazábal y Álvarez de Eulate, married Julio de Urquijo e Ibarra, a well known Carlist and especially Basque activist.Julio de Urquijo e Ibarra nació en Deusto el 3 abril de 1871, [in:] Euskonews 2011, available here Many of the Tirso's offspring made their names in different areas in Spain, Portugal or worldwide;his grandson, Javier Olazábal Mendoza, became a Jesuit and was founder of the worldwide known Anesvad charity network, Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 298 his distant relative Pedro de Morenés y Álvarez de Eulate in 2015 served as the Spanish Minister of Defense.he is Olazábal’s wife’s brother’s great-grandson, Kontreras 2014 Condado de Arbeiaiz is functional until today.compare Official Bulletin of 1964 here and of 1990 here
Early career