Maixux Rekalde Urdanpilleta (4 July 1934 – 6 January 2022)[1] was a Spanish pacifist and Basque supporter. She served as President of Elkarri (Elkarri was a pacifist social movement that operated in the Basque Country and Navarra) and Lokarri [es] (A Basque word meaning "what serves to unite", Lokarri was a pacifist social movement).[2][3]
Rekalde was born in Oiartzun, Gipuzkoa. While she had a master's degree in journalism and business administration studies, she worked for society all her life,[4] including as a secular missionary for ten years in Chile, and teaching and training women in Los Ríos Province,[3] Ecuador. During her stay in Chile, she experienced Augusto Pinochet's 1973 coup d'état, returning home three months later.[3] Back in the Basque Country, she worked in the press office of the dioceseofGipuzkoa when José María Setién was auxiliary bishop,[3] and in various voluntary capacities.[2] An active pacifist, she was one of the founders of the Elkarri social movement. She later served as president of the Elkarri and Lokarri movements.[3]
Rekalde was also one of the first columnists of the monthly magazine, Oarsoaldean [eu] (On the other hand).[5] Fluent in French, she also studied English for a year in London.[3]
She spent her last years in the Petra Lekuona Center in Oiartzu, suffering from Alzheimer's disease.[6] The Language Observatory recorded Rekalde's testimony on video.[5]
Single and childless, Maixux Rekalde died 6 January 2022.[2]
