Damiana Ligon Eugenio (September 27, 1921 – October 10, 2014) was a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

female author and professor who was known as the ''Mother of Philippine Folklore'', a title she received in 1986. Apart from teaching at the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...

, she has several publications in the field of

Philippine folklore Philippine mythology is the body of stories and epics originating from, and part of, the indigenous Philippine folk religions, which include various ethnic faiths distinct from one another. Philippine mythology is incorporated from various ...

, among them a series of seven books which she compiled and edited.Retheword, Robert, "Damiana L. Eugenio," Philippines
Book Reviews (PDF version)
(), EF International, Oakland"Damiana L. Eugenio." About the Author, Philippine Folk Literature Series: Vol. III, The Legends, Philippine Folk Literature, University of the Philippines Press.

Biography

Education

Eugenio was a BSE degree holder and a cum laude graduate from the University of the Philippines. She obtained her M.A. degree in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

and

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

. She was a professor at the Department of English and Comparative Literature for the College of Arts in

Diliman Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

: Vol. III, The Legends, Philippine Folk Literature, University of the Philippines Press.

Authorship

Description

Eugenio's works were described as volumes that are thorough and professional in presentation and as being valuable resources for

scholars A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher ...

studying the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and comparative

. Written in the

English-language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

, her ''

Philippine Folk Literature Philippine folk literature refers to the traditional oral literature of the Filipino people. Thus, the scope of the field covers the ancient folk literature of the Philippines' various ethnic groups, as well as various pieces of folklore that ...

: The Myths'' (1993) served as a compendium that promotes "national and international access to Filipino folklore," were gathered from written sources rather than collected oral variants, and was intended to foster interest in the subject matter. In this work, Eugenio also presented the collected narratives in a proper scholarly context that also justified the inclusion of the

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

s of

saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...

, as opposed to being a pure collection of

myths Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

. This particular volume was also described as a recommended work for "any individual interested in issues of Filipino worldviews and value systems, to any scholar investigating myths across cultures, and to anyone who enjoys the insights that a culture's narratives provide."

Awards and recognitions

Eugenio was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PPBY Awards) for her significant contributions to the growth of literacy for children in 1991."Damiana L. Eugenio"
, Alba, Reinero A. Philippine Board on Books for Young People Awards (PPBY Awards), Nurthuring Children's Literature in the Philippines, InFocub Folklor ng Pilipinas'') by the U.P. Folklorists, Inc. and the U.P. Folklore Studies Program in 1986 She also garnered the following recognitions: Most Outstanding Novo Ecijano in the Field of Arts for Literature (

Nueva Ecija Nueva Ecija, officially the Province of Nueva Ecija ( tgl, Lalawigan ng Nueva Ecija , also ; ilo, Probinsia ti Nueva Ecija; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Nueva Ecija; Kapampangan: ''Lalawigan/Probinsia ning Nueva Ecija''), is a landlocked province i ...

High School Alumni Association, 1983), Professional Achievement Award in the

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

for folklore studies (U.P. Alumni Association, 1987), Catholic Mass Media Award: Best Book in English (a finalist, 1987),

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

for Literary History (Manila Critic Circle, 1987), Achievement Award in the Humanities (Philippine National Science Society/NCRP, 1989),

Cultural Center of the Philippines The Cultural Center of the Philippines ( fil, Sentrong Pangkultura ng Pilipinas, or CCP) is a government-owned and controlled corporation established to preserve, develop and promote arts and culture in the Philippines.Presidential Decree No. ...

Award for the Arts for cultural research (''

Gawad CCP para sa Sining Abdel Gawad ( ar, عبد الجواد) is an Egyptian surname. Notable people with this surname include: * Ahmed Abdel Gawad (died 2013), journalist, victim in the August 2013 Rabaa massacre * Heba Abdel Gawad (born 1982), Egyptian swimmer * ...

'', 1992), Golden Jubilarian Achievement Award (U.P. Education Alumni Association, 1992), National Follower of

Balagtas Francisco Balagtas y de la Cruz (April 2, 1788 – February 20, 1862), commonly known as Francisco Balagtas and also as Francisco Baltasar, was a Filipino Tagalog litterateur and poet during the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is ...

Award (''Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas'', from the ''Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas'' or the Philippine Writers Union, UMPIL, 1993), Manila Critics Circle Citation (1995), Centennial Award for Cultural Research (''Parangal Sentenyal sa Sining at Kultura'' (Cultural Center of the Philippines, 1999), Most Distinguished Alumna of the Nueva Ecija High School (1999), and the Silver Torch Award (U.P. Educational Alumni Association, 2000).

Death

Eugenio died on October 10, 2014. She had a bad fall in December 2013 and became bed ridden since. Works: *Philippine Proverb Lore (1975) *Awit and Korido: A Study of Fifty Philippine Metrical Romances in Relation to Their Sources and Analogues (1965) *Philippine Folk Literature: An Anthology (1981) *Philippine Folk Literature, (May 31, 2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eugenio, Damiana L. 1921 births 2014 deaths People from San Miguel, Bulacan Writers from Bulacan Filipino women writers English-language writers from the Philippines People from Nueva Ecija