[2] Over the centuries this noble Basque family got very branched and many Elorzas made it to Spanish history as civil servants,[3] military commanders,[4] religious hierarchs[5] or businessmen,[6] serving either on the peninsula or overseas.

[9] The father of Julián, Juan José Elorza Aizpuru,[10] studied law in Madrid in the mid-1860s;[11] having returned to Azpeitia he started practicing as a lawyer[12] and worked for the Gipuzkoan self-government, Diputación Provincial, as its secretary.

[25] He then followed in the footsteps of his father and commenced law studies in Madrid; after an 1895-1897 spell in facultad de derecho of Universidad Central[26] Julián later completed his education in the University of Oñati.

[46] Elorza's first years in the Gipuzkoan self-government were not punctuated by noteworthy events; he remained in the shadow of the provincial Carlist jefé and the Diputación president at the same time, marquis of Valde-Espina, and strictly followed his lead, e.g. when in 1912 dealing with apparent incompetence of some deputies.

[47] Re-elected as a Carlist candidate in 1913[48] he gradually assumed more active stance; scholars note that together with other newcomers in the Diputación, Ignacio Pérez-Arregui and José de Orueta, he provided an impulse directing the body towards the Basque question.

[49] Following another re-election in 1916[50] he was already heavily engaged in negotiations with the Madrid government, playing key role in discussions on renewal of the periodical provincial Concierto Económico agreement.

[51] In 1917, Elorza took part in Asamblea de Vitoria, a joint session of Gipuzkoan, Biscay and Alavese provincial deputies; impressed by emergence of the Catalan Mancomunitat, they voiced for separate Basque establishments.

[58] As member of Gipuzkoan Diputación Elorza hugely contributed to organization of the 1918 Primer Congreso de Estudios Vascos in Oñati,[59] a Basque cultural and scientific initiative; he tried to shape it in line with “old Carlist foralism".

SEV Congress in Pamplona in 1920 he went to great lengths to ensure that the Navarrese and Pamplonese authorities, dominated by the Carlists and suspicious of Basque nationalism, support the project.

SEV Congress in Guernica in 1922 Elorza caused a sensation when he approached Alfonso XIII, present during the opening session, in Euskera; the lecture was rather welcome by the addressee, though because of its loyalist tone it raised many eyebrows among the Carlists.

[68] The move gave rise to controversies, as especially the Biscay self-government, dominated by the Alfonsist Liga Monárquica de Vizcaya,[69] turned increasingly against Elorza; they suspected him of fomenting Basque separatism.

[77] As president of the Diputación he was involved in usual administrative tasks like maintenance and development of transport facilities;[78] his most lasting achievement was completion of Ferrocarril del Urola, the railway line launched in 1920 and operated until the 1980s.

[80] The Vizcainos started to withdraw from common projects; in the early 1920s Elorza came under fire also for financial misfortunes suffered by joint inter-provincial enterprises, especially for the failure of Banco Vasco.

[81] Shortly after the coup of Primo de Rivera Elorza met with presidents of Biscay, Alavese and Navarrese diputaciones; he pushed through a project to seize the moment and present the case for autonomy to the dictator.

[82] In late 1923 the presidents finalized Proyecto de Memoria al Directorio Militar, a memorandum prepared mostly by the Gipuzkoan diputación[83] and partially attributed personally to Elorza,[84] who by some is named “principal impulsor del intento autonómico”.

[86] Marked by conservative “antijacobinismo”,[87] the proposal advocated among others creation of a Consejo Regional, elevating Basque to official language (along Spanish), introduction of autonomous regulations related to justice, military service, economy and education, and wide municipal autonomy.

[88] Scholars claim that while Elorza tried to exercise some pressure on Primo[89] and opposed few of his moves, like appointment of “delegados gubernativos” for every province,[90] he should not be viewed as the dictator's political enemy; he rather tried to bank on apparent primoderiverista re-definition of the system.

[102] As the dictatorial environment made autonomy plans irrelevant and as Gipuzkoan-Biscay conflict increasingly paralyzed Sociedad, after 1924 SEV entered a period of what is referred to as “semi-hibernation”.

[103] In 1926, following his dismissal from the Gipuzkoan Diputación, Elorza ceased to represent the province in the SEV's executive, replaced by José Luis Gaytan de Ayala.

[117] He then presided over the Congress works, which renewed the autonomy question[118] and appointed Elorza to a 5-member commission entrusted with drafting a detailed proposal;[119] he formed part also of a sub-comisión on Gipuzkoa.

[124] His exact views on renewed perspectives for Basque autonomy are not clear; he was impressed by proclamation of the Catalan Republic,[125] but as representative of Gipuzkoa he co-signed a Carlist manifesto which focused on provincial fueros.

[126] Asked by vasco-navarrese mayors, SEV stepped up its works on Basque autonomy;[127] its draft proposal[128] envisioned 4 semi-autonomous provinces united in a Basque-Navarrese federation.

He declared the entire process unfair and since executed along republican lines, doomed for failure;[146] the document called for Comunión Tradicionalista not to appoint its representatives,[147] to demand “reintegración foral” as the only proper acknowledgement of Basque aspirations,[148] but also to prohibit any Carlist anti-statute propaganda.

A number of times he participated in Traditionalist rallies, where he used to speak in Euskera;[152] he was also elected as “vocal adjunto” to the Gipuzkoan Junta Provincial,[153] the only post he is known to hold in the organization; in 1935 he was already subject to some ridicule on part of left-wing press.

[156] According to one source the reason was his harsh criticism of Nationalist repression carried out in Gipuzkoa,[157] according to another Elorza was arrested because of his favorable comments related to a radio address by president of the autonomous Basque state, José Antonio Aguirre.

At unspecified time – it is not clear whether before of after the incarceration episode – Elorza was reportedly asked to follow his brother Fructuoso[159] and engage in the emerging Nationalist structures, perhaps assuming some public role.

[160] His only wartime public activity was noted in mid-1937, when a few Azpeitian girls were brought to court charged with fomenting Basque nationalism and with earlier engagement in anti-Carlist repression.

[167] In 1961, when the Carlist claimant Don Javier intended to set up a joint vasco-navarrese executive structure of the party, Elorza was considered a candidate as the representative of Gipuzkoa.

[170] Some personalities following a period of indecision and hope that the two concepts can be aligned have eventually decided to break with Carlism; within the Basque ambience this is e.g. the case of Daniel Irujo.

[178] Elorza has not earned a scientific historiographic monograph yet, be it an article or a major work, and his name appears mostly in studies dedicated either to Sociedad de Estudios Vascos[179] or to the Gipuzkoan diputación.