A Family History · Est. Lekeitio, Basque Country
From a whaling port on the Bay of Biscay to the shores of Manila Bay, from the courts of the Spanish Pacific to the streets of Sydney — five hundred years of one Basque family's journey through history.
The Aboitiz name appears in the coastal villages of Bizkaia, Basque Country as far back as the 16th century — a seafaring people from one of Europe's great maritime traditions. This site tells the story of one branch of that family: the line that sailed to the Philippines, argued cases before its Supreme Court, edited a Manila magazine, and eventually made its way to Sydney, Australia.
Each page here is a portrait of an ancestor — their world, their work, their place in the longer story. The research is ongoing, the questions are many, and the family is still adding to it.
Cosme Damian Aboitiz Achaval
b. 1856, Lekeitio, Basque Country — d. before 1922
A Basque sea captain who navigated the inter-island waters of the Spanish Philippines. In January 1889 his ship, the SS Remus, sank off Maripipi Island. Forty-two people died. His orders saved the rest.
Sea Captain · Shipwreck 1889 GrandfatherAlejandro Blas Aboitiz Piñaga
b. 28 Feb 1892, Manila — d. 8 Jun 1969, Sydney
Son of the sea captain, he became a lawyer who argued before the Philippine Supreme Court, and edited Estudio — a Spanish-language Catholic weekly in Manila. He married in Spain in 1930 and died in Sydney.
Lawyer · Editor, Estudio 1923–24 Father · Coming soonCosme Maria de Aboitiz
b. 10 Dec 1943, Iloilo — d. 16 Aug 2024, Sydney
Born in the Philippines during the Japanese occupation, he left for Australia at 16 and made Sydney his home. Buried at Waverley Cemetery. His story is being written.
Coming SoonThe geographic arc of the paternal line, across four centuries
This family history website is a living project — built from GEDCOM genealogy records, archival research, original 19th-century Spanish newspapers, Philippine court records, and the collective memory of the family itself.
New pages and discoveries are added as research continues. If you are a family member with information, photographs, or documents to share, please get in touch.