Francisca Tirona-Benitez (June 4, 1886 – November 17, 1974) 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 ...

educator, humanitarian, civic leader, and administrator. She is a co-founder of the

Philippine Women's University The Philippine Women's University (PWU) is a tertiary education school which has its main campus in Manila, Philippines. An institution exclusive for girls from its inception until the 1970s, the PWU admits both women and men as its students. ...

Biography

Francisca Tirona was born in

Imus Imus, officially the City of Imus ( fil, Lungsod ng Imus), is a 3rd class component city and ''de jure'' capital of the province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 496,794 people. It is the ''de jure ...

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest ...

, on June 4, 1886. Her parents are Guillermo Tirona and Jacoba Paredes, both are school teachers. She had her elementary education at the public elementary school for girls in Imus and at the Escuela Catolica in Manila. She then attended Cavite High School. In 1903, she enrolled at the

Philippine Normal School The Philippine Normal University (PNU; fil, Pamantasang Normal ng Pilipinas) is a public coeducational teacher education and research university in the Philippines. It was established in 1901 through Act No. 74 of the Philippine Commission '' ...

, where she graduated as salutatorian. The Valedictorian that time was

Conrado Benitez Conrado Benitez (November 26, 1889 – January 4, 1971) is a Filipino statesman, writer, and educator. He founded the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement and was one of the drafters of the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines. Flavier, Juan M ...

who is her ardent suitor whom she married on August 3, 1912. She first taught at the Manila High School then in Sampaloc Elementary School. She was assigned as assistant superintendent of the Philippine Normal School. She also became the first Filipino teacher in the domestic science of the school. On her second year of teaching, while serving as the assistant dean of the girl's dormitory, she was inspired to found a school exclusively for girls who come to Manila for higher education. Her dream was realized when she, together with six other women, founded the Philippine Women's College (later renamed to

) in 1919. The college began adminitting enrollees from kindergarten up to third year high school on June 9, 1919. She was elected as its president in 1920. During the Japanese occupation period she was appointed by then President José Laurel as head of the Women's Bureau. When the war ended she came back to the Philippine Women's University where she served as its president until her retirement in 1965. Francisca was also an active civic leader. She helped in founding of civic organizations including Gota de Leche where she served as director, Associacion de Damas Filipinas and the Civic Assembly of Women in the Philippines which later renamed National Council of Women of the Philippines.

Later life and death

She was permanently disabled by a hip injury in 1970, and died on November 17, 1974, at the age of 88.

Personal life

She was married to

from 1912 until his death in 1971 and the mother of Helena Benitez. LagunaAjf9944 22

References

Philippine Women's University faculty 1886 births 1974 deaths Philippine Normal University alumni People from Imus Presidents of universities and colleges in the Philippines Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Merit (Philippines) {{Philippines-academic-bio-stub