Txabi Etxebarrieta


Txabi Etxebarrieta, also known as Xabier Etxebarrieta Ortiz, was a Basque nationalist and anti-fascist who was a popular leader of the armed separatist organisation Euskadi ta Askatasuna. Despite being a poet and an essayist, he never published his work.
Born in Bilbao in 1944, Etxebarrieta was a major ETA leader in the 1960s, and was known for being the first assassin of the Basque organization after he killed José Antonio Pardines, a Guardia Civil. Etxebarrieta was also the first member of ETA killed in action. He was killed after a confrontation with the Guardia Civil in Tolosa.
On 2 June 2018 he was commemorated in Tolosa by 300 people.
He was the uncle of Natxo Etxebarrieta, singer of the punk rock band named Cicatriz; and Aitziber Ibaibarriaga Etxebarrieta, a Bildu politician.