Ismael Villanueva Mallari was one of the early

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 ...

writers in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. He was primarily an

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

. He is ranked as the leading literary and art critic in the Philippines.

Education

From his hometown

malabon Malabon, officially the City of Malabon ( fil, Lungsod ng Malabon), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 380,522 people. Located just nort ...

Rizal Province Rizal, officially the Province of Rizal ( fil, Lalawigan ng Rizal), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Its capital is the city of Antipolo. It is about east of Manila. The province is named after José R ...

, Mallari went to 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 '' ...

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 ...

, then he went as a government pensionado to the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

(USA) for further studies in English, Education and Library Science. For his accomplishments, Mallari was included in the Pan-Pacific Who’s Who and the Who’s Who library Science. He taught in the Department of Library Science. Later, he worked for the

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

(UNESCO) in Manila, capital of the Philippines.

Personal life

Ismael Villanueva Mallari married Natividad "Nati" Dolores Quidato Sanglap of San Joaquin, Iloilo in April 1932. On 27 December 1932, their daughter, named Vita Araceli Sanglap Mallari, was born. Two years later, Ismael and Nati separated.

Writings

He wrote widely and covered a broad range of subjects. His books were usually published under the name I.V. Mallari. "When I Was A Little Boy", "Values", "Tales from the Mountain Province", and "Footprints on the Sand".

Opinions

In his ''The Filipino IN English: A Critical Study with Anthology of Representative Essays'' (1912–1941), Prof. Leopoldo Yabes of 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 20 ...

says: "While he (Mallari) could not be ranked among the abler critics of the older school, he was conceded by a number of informed persons to be the best writer on problems of Architecture and city planning. He wrote on Architecture with the understanding and skill of a truly artistic temperament." Another noted literature, Puro Santillan Castrence, has this to say "One of the country’s most reliable essayist in English . . . Mallari’s forte in his essays was in his use of simple words neatly and economically. He wrote poems, too."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallari, Ismael Filipino writers People from Malabon Writers from Metro Manila Philippine Normal University alumni Date of birth missing Date of death missing