Atano III

 

 

Mariano Juaristi Mendizábal (1904 –2001) was an Azkoitian Basque pelota player known as Atano III.

He is often considered one of the best pelotaris of all time, dominating the 1st hand-pelota category from 1926 to 1948 and winner of 4 championships (1940, 1942, 1944 and 1946).

Mariano Mendizábal was born on 1904 in Azkoitia, Guipúzcoa in the Caserío Atano from which his family pseudonym comes. The Juaristi (or Atano) family formed a pelotari dynasty, six of them were pelotaris and one of them manufactured balls. Mariano, Atano III, was the most well-known of them.

 

Atano VII, his younger brother, also was an important player, as was Atano X, son of Atano I.

Mendizábal lost the ability to walk and was limited to a wheelchair in his last years, dying on January 12, 2001.