Manuel Uruchurtu Ramírez

Manuel Uruchurtu Ramírez was a Mexican lawyer, jurist and politician, known for being the only passenger of this nationality being lost in the disaster of the RMS *Titanic*, on April 15, 1912. His story was untold for a long time, as much as 100 years.

## Biography

Manuel Uruchurtu Ramírez was born in Hermosillo, Sonora as a member of a family of the Porfirian oligarchy. He was the son of Captain Mateo Uruchurtu Díaz whose family originated from Bilbao, and Mercedes Ramírez Estrella. Manuel was conceived on June 27, 1872.

The young Uruchurtu traveled to Mexico City to study law. He married his fellow student, the aristocrat Gertrudis Caraza y Landero, with whom he had seven children. He and his family settled in Mexico City. His friendship with the prominent Porfirista and member of the group "*Los Científicas*", Ramón Corral, opened the doors to the political life of the country. After the fall of the regime, his close ties with the dictatorship and the exile of Porfirio Díaz in 1911 forced him to flee the country and take refuge in Europe, fearing reprisals from the new government headed by Francisco I. Madero.

In 1912 he visited his friend and political godfather, the also exiled Ramón Corral, in France. On March the first, the meeting between Uruchurtu and Corral took place. Having completed his mission, the Sonoran acquires his ticket to travel on April 10 on the transatlantic *Paris*, from Cherbourg (France) to the port of Veracruz (Mexico).

## *Titanic*

At the end of March or beginning of April of that year Uruchurtu, staying at the Hotel París, in France, receives the visit of Guillermo Obregón, son-in-law of Ramón Corral and president of the Great Commission of the Chamber of Deputies. Obregón had paid a little more than 27 pounds sterling for a First Class ticket that would allow him to sail on the luxurious ocean liner RMS *Titanic* on its Maiden Voyage to the port of New York, but he had changed his mind and wanted to exchange tickets, to which Uruchurtu agreed, thus sealing his fate. Guillermo Obregón would travel on the transatlantic *Paris* and Uruchurtu on the *Titanic*.

On April 8 Uruchurtu was invited to a party with the exiles loyal to Porfirio Díaz and on the 10th of the same month he sent a postcard to his mother in Hermosillo, Sonora. The postcard was telling her that the photo was neither more nor less than the ship in which he would travel, and that when he would arrive in Mexico, he would visit her in Hermosillo to tell her everything about the trip on the famous ship. That same day, in Cherbourg, he boarded the *Titanic* along with 273 other passengers. He was 40 years old at the time.

On April 14, late at night, *Titanic* had come into contact with an iceberg, which left her damaged enough to sink. Popularly, the story that tells the actions of Manuel Uruchurtu aboard the ocean liner had been accepted as true. This story assures that on the night of the sinking of the *Titanic*, Uruchurtu was put on lifeboat 11 thanks to his status as a deputy on an official visit. Once on board, he observed a 29 year old English lady traveling in Second Class, named Elizabeth Ramell-Nye, who begged to be included in the lifeboat, claiming that her husband and son were waiting for her in New York. The officers refused to let her get on the boat as it was at its maximum capacity and would jeopardize the stability of the boat. Uruchurtu left the lifeboat and gave his place to the lady asking her to visit his wife and family in Mexico (Hermosillo and Xalapa) in case she died to let them know about his last minutes in life.

Uruchurtu saved her life while dieing in the sinking of the *Titanic*. It was later discovered that Elizabeth Ramell-Nye had lied, as she was not married and had no children. However, the woman kept her promise and in 1924 traveled to Xalapa, Veracruz to visit Uruchurtu's widow and tell her the story of her husband's last moments. Another possiblity is, that Guadalupe Loaeza fabricated this whole part of the story in her book about Ramírez.

After the shipwreck, Uruchurtu's body was never recovered.

Curiously, 2 of his nephews were important politicians: Ernesto P. Uruchurtu who would become Head of the Department of the Federal District, Secretary of the Interior and Secretary General of the PRI and Dr. Gustavo A. Uruchurtu Peralta who was personal physician of President Álvaro Obregón, federal deputy, senator of the Republic, patron president of the National Monte de Piedad, among other charges.

## The story's appearance

On August 24, 2012, the journalist Guadalupe Loaeza, author of the book The Knight of the *Titanic*, which she wrote and published on the occasion of the centenary of the sinking of the ship, narrates the events described above. However, he has publicly stated that there is no proof of this anecdote. The fictional nature of the story has also been confirmed by Nye's biographer, David Bryceton, who called the story a *moving story* with no foundation.

Furthermore, Uruchurtu’s granddaughter denied that the event ever happened. The Titanic Historical Society, established in the U.S. in 1963, said that they could find no evidence of this act of heroism — only that Uruchurtu was a passenger.

Nevertheless, many Mexicans believe the legend of Uruchurtu’s heroic act is true because it is the embodiment of the values of Mexicans, honor and chivalry, noble values that are highly respected in Mexico and were prevalent around the whole worldback in 1912.