Fernando María Guerrero Ramírez (May 30, 1873 – June 12, 1929) was a

Spanish Filipino Spanish Filipinos ( es, español filipino / hispano filipino / castellano filipino; cbk, español filipino / hispano filipino / conio; Filipino/ tl, Kastilà / Espanyól / Tisoy / Konyo; ceb, Katsílà / Ispaniyul; hil, Katsílà / Espany� ...

, poet, journalist, lawyer, politician, and

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all Eu ...

who became a significant figure during 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 ...

' golden period of

Spanish literature Spanish literature generally refers to literature ( Spanish poetry, prose, and drama) written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the Kingdom of Spain. Its development coincides and frequently intersects wi ...

, a period ranging from 1890 to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1940.Fernando Ma. Guerrero (1873-1929), Filipinos in History, Vol. 1, pp. 218-221, National Historical Institute and Comcentrum.ph, 1989
retrieved on: June 13, 2003

Biography

Guerrero was born to a highly educated family. His father was Lorenzo Guerrero, a painter and art teacher largely known for mentoring gifted artists like

Juan Luna Juan Luna de San Pedro y Novicio Ancheta (, ; October 23, 1857 – December 7, 1899) was a Filipino painter, sculptor and a political activist of the Philippine Revolution during the late 19th century. He became one of the first recogni ...

, Felix Hidalgo, and

Juan Arellano Juan Marcos Arellano y de Guzmán (April 25, 1888 – December 5, 1960), or Juan M. Arellano, was a Filipino architect, best known for Manila's Metropolitan Theater (1935), Legislative Building (1926; now houses the National Museum of F ...

. His mother was Clamencia Ramirez. He began writing literature at a young age. He excelled in the facility of language and obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the

Ateneo Municipal de Manila , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_af ...

and the Bachelor of Laws degree at the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Migue ...

and wrote journals during the years 1898 to 1900. He became a lawyer and he taught criminology and forensic oratory. He served as chairman of the board of study at the law school La Jurisprudencia (The Jurisprudence). He also became a councilor, secretary of the senate and secretary of the

Philippine Independence 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 ...

commission. He was also a director of the Academia de Leyes (Academy of Regulation). Apart from

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, Guerrero spoke Tagalog, Latin,

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, and English. During the revolution he was recruited by General

Antonio Luna Antonio Narciso Luna de San Pedro y Novicio Ancheta (; October 29, 1866 – June 5, 1899) was a Filipino army general who fought in the Philippine–American War before his assassination in 1899. Regarded as one of the fiercest generals of hi ...

to serve as contributor and editor for the newspaper, ''La Indepencia,'' together with

Rafael Palma Rafael Palma y Velásquez (: October 24, 1874 May 24, 1939) was a Filipino politician, Rizalian, writer, educator and a famous Freemason. He was a senator from 1916 to 1921 and was the fourth president of the University of the Philippines. Biog ...

and

Epifanio de los Santos Epifanio de los Santos y Cristóbal, sometimes known as Don Pañong or Don Panyong (April 7, 1871 – April 18, 1928), was a noted Filipino historian, journalist, and civil servant.Afan, Carolina L. Epifanio de los Santos y Cristobal. Fili ...

. During the early years of the American occupation, he would be reunited with Rafael Palma at ''

El Renacimiento ''El Renacimiento'' () was a bilingual Spanish– Tagalog language newspaper. It was printed in Manila until the 1940s by the members of the Guerrero de Ermita family. Its directors were Fernando Ma. Guerrero, Teodoro M. Kalaw, and Rafael Palma ...

(The Rebirth),'' a Spanish-language daily. In a few years, he would transition from the position of editor to director. Under Guerrero's leadership as its director, ''El Renaciemento'' would become the most influential and powerful paper in the Philippines—exposing and speaking against the oppression and brutality of the constabulary. After a brief stint in politics he became an editor at ''La Vanguardia (The Outer works)'' and ''La Opinion (The Opinion)''. He was a member of the First Philippine Assembly representing

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

's 2nd district, the ''Academia Filipina (Philippine Academy)'' and also became a leader of the

Municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Board of Manila. He was also a correspondent to the

Royal Academy of the Spanish Language The Royal Spanish Academy ( es, Real Academia Española, generally abbreviated as RAE) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. His poetry book ''Crisálidas'' was published in 1914. Subsequently, he published another verse compilation called ''Aves y Flores''. Guerrero died on June 12, 1929, coinciding with that year's anniversary of the ''República Filipina (Philippine Republic)''. A school in

Paco Paco is a Spanish nickname for Francisco. According to folk etymology, the nickname has its origins in Saint Francis of Assisi, who was the father of the Franciscan order; his name was written in Latin by the order as ''Pater Communitatis'' (fath ...

, was named after him in his honor.

Poetry

A 1913 poem written by Guerrero:

Original in Spanish

English translation

References

External links