Eloisa Artaza Libarona (1861-1931)
She was born on 16th April 1861 in Gorliz, a parish of fewer than seven hundred inhabitants at that time. Her father, Juan Clemente de Artaza y Landeta, from Gorliz, was a notary public and scribe, a profession that gave the house where she lived, the stately home "Iturritxi", and the bend that semi-encircled it, the name it was commonly known by.
Her mother Mrs. Juliana de Libarona Arostegi, from Getxo, was a woman with a strong temperament, something that Eloisa apparently inherited. As the couple’s ninth child, Eloísa grew up in a religious and bourgeois environment, until she became a healthy-looking young woman of medium height with dark hair.
One fine day she met Cándido M' Gerardo Gurbista y Lecusais in Gorliz, a native of Mungia and a doctor by profession. They were married in the Church of the Immaculate Conception on 17 January 1880. She, a young woman of 18, the scribe’s daughter. He, Mr. Gerardo the doctor, 28 years old.
The Gurbista-Artazas moved into the nearby house, called “Sertutxena”, which at the time had one less floor. The extra floor was added years later when it became the “Teresiano” school.
La casa contaba también con biblioteca, despacho, una capilla con la ropa necesaria para revestirse, albas, estolas, casullas, etcétera. Un crucifijo de marfil, aguabenditeras de plata, un reloj de caoba y otro de alabastro... En el exterior, plantas y animales exóticos en el jardín. Un loro, un mono, un pavo real que en una ocasión escapó causando gran alboroto en la vecindad hasta que pudieron darle alcance y recuperarlo sobre un tejado.
The house also had a library, an office, a chapel with the necessary clothing, albs, stoles, chasubles, et cetera. There was an ivory crucifix, silver water-basins, a mahogany clock and an alabaster clock... Outside, there were exotic plants and animals in the garden. A parrot, a monkey, a peacock that once escaped and caused a great commotion in the neighbourhood until it was caught on a roof.
The couple had no children. Mr. Gerardo visited the sick on his horse and accompanied by his dog, who, after the death of its master, died of grief. On days of heavy rain and for longer journeys, the horse-drawn carriage stored in the garage on the right-hand side of the garden of his house was taken out.
On 13 May 1908, Gerardo died of angina pectoris at the age of 56 and Eloisa was widowed at the age of 47 after 28 years of marriage. She would spend her time between her home and the church, where she looked after the altars of San Antonio and Our Lady of the Rosary with her sister Lorenza.
She died on 25 January 1931 in Bilbao at the age of 70 from a cancerous tumour. Her remains returned to Gorliz, and rest in the family pantheon, which stands out in the cemetery for being the only one with a chapel.
She left her house, Sertutxena, with her belongings to the Teresian Association so that the daughters of Gorliz could have access to good teaching and faith-based education. She left the funds in cash for a cultural house to be built in Gorliz. Today it is a municipal socio-cultural centre next to which there is a street named after her.
(Summary of the text by L. Igartua published in “Gorliz 97”)