Jean-Philippe de Bela, known as chevalier de Bela, (3 February 1703 – 1796) OSL was a French-Basque military figure and writer in basque language, born at Mauléon, Soule. Among his works, he wrote L'histoire des basques and also Histoire générale de la nation basque, where he compares the Basque dialects from France with those of Guipúzcoa and Álava.
Bela family
The first known reference to a member of this family from Soule is a text dating to the 15th century which mentions Garzia Belaz de Medrano, a noble from Navarre. His grandson, Gérard de Bela (1550–1633), was a bailiff and lieutenant general serving under Jean de Belzunce, Captain-châtelain and Governor of Soule. Apart from Bela, this family used derivative surnames such as Belaspect, Belapeyre, Belagrace, Bela-Chéraute and Belapéritz. Athanasius of Belapeyre, the son of the Protestant Jacques de Bela and among the family's more prominent members, became a Catholic priest and ascended to the office of vicar general. Among his properties were the mill of Asconéguy and the Planterose House in Mauléon. The mill still has the coat of arms of the family, dated 1767, on the lintel of its entrance.