Chemist. Born in San Sebastián in May 1901. He died in Rio de Janeiro on 15 February 1936, aged 34, as a result of peritonitis caused by gangrenous appendicitis with heart failure, according to the death register of the Casa de Salud São Sebastião (160 Bento Lisboa Street). He was buried in the São João Baptista cemetery. He was married to María Jesús Eskubi Ellacuria, who was pregnant at the time of his death. He was the son of Zacarías Leizaola and Cándida Sánchez.
From a very young age, he ed a marked inclination for study, attending secondary school in Lekaroz (Navarra), where he graduated at the age of 16 with seven honours. Before and during secondary school, he already had a great fondness for chemistry, which led him to buy utensils and chemicals with which he experimented in his spare time.
He soon began his studies at the Sarrià Institute of Chemistry. Even before completing his studies, he began working at the dynamite factory in Galdakao, where he remained until 1935. This factory was the first on the peninsula to manufacture TNT and lead fulminate. At the same time, he studied science at the University of Zaragoza, graduating in 1924, and completed his degree in pharmacy in Madrid in 1929.
In Galdakao, he continued his experiments and research, publishing his work in specialist journals such as the Annals of the Spanish Society of Physics and Chemistry, as well as giving lectures and short courses.
He was known for his great love of the Basque language, both in his professional and personal life. In 1931, he founded the Euskeraren Adiskideak society in Galdakao. The following year, he was appointed member of the Permanent Board of the Basque Studies Society, in the mathematics, physics and chemistry section. In recognition of his work, the Basque language enthusiasts of Galdakao named the local ikastola (Basque-medium school) Leizaola'tar Karmel'en Euzko Ikastoliak.
He was a member of the PNV (Basque Nationalist Party) and was in Brazil on a promotional trip for Basque Studies in South America when he passed away.
Ref.: Antonio Zabala, Leizaola'tar Karmel, Bulletin of the Basque Studies Society, 1936, no. 69.
Civil registry of deaths in Rio de Janeiro, Bake Epaitegia, folio 272, no. 7376.
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