Manuel "Manolo" Elizalde Sr. y Díaz was a prominent Filipino businessman.

Biography

Elizalde was born in

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 ...

to José Joaquín Elizalde and Carmen Díaz Moreau. He was a brother of diplomat Joaquín Miguel ("Mike"), Juan Miguel, Ángel,

Federico Federico (; ) is a given name and surname. It is a form of Frederick, most commonly found in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. People with the given name Federico Artists * Federico Ágreda, Venezuelan composer and DJ. * Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, r ...

("Fred") and Carmenchu Elizalde. During the 1920s, he was nicknamed "Lizz" Elizalde, playing the

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

and the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

alongside his brother Fred. He was married to Mary Cadwallader and among the couple's children were Manuel Jr. ("Manda"), Mary Ruth and Fred J. Elizalde.

Business

In 1936, he and his brothers established Elizalde & Company, Inc. after acquiring the major businesses of

Ynchausti y Compañía Ynchausti y Compañía (Ynchausti and Company, also known as YCO) was a prominent Philippine conglomerate from 1816 to 1936. In 1936, the Ynchausti family completed the divestment of most of their corporate holdings with the intention of adopting ...

, among them Ynchausti Shipping,

Tanduay Tanduay Distillers, Inc. () is a Philippine alcoholic beverage company. It is a subsidiary of LT Group, a conglomerate owned by Filipino business magnate Lucio Tan. As of 2019, it is the world's largest rum brand. History Tanduay traces its or ...

, YCO Paints and Floor Wax, and the Central Azucarera de La Carlota and Central Azucarera de Pilar (now Capiz Sugar Central) sugar refineries. After

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 ...

, Elizalde became president of the company after his brother Mike decided to step down from the position in order to focus on his diplomatic career. In 1946, Elizalde and his brothers established

Manila Broadcasting Company Manila Broadcasting Company (MBC) is a radio and television network in the Philippines. MBC is currently owned by the FJE Group of Companies of Fred J. Elizalde, which also operates hotels and Pasay-based amusement park Star City. Its AM fla ...

to acquire the radio stations KZRH and KYRC.

Sports

From the 1920s to the 1930s, Elizalde was an avid

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

player together with his brothers

Mike Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and docume ...

, Juan Miguel and Ángel. In January 1937, the Elizalde brothers inaugurated the Los Tamaraos Polo Club in

Tambo, Parañaque Tambo is an administrative division in southern Metro Manila, the Philippines. It is a coastal barangay in the city of Parañaque situated just south of Baclaran adjoining the Ninoy Aquino International Airport complex to the east. The approximate ...

after resigning their memberships in the

Manila Polo Club The Manila Polo Club is the premiere polo club in the Philippines. It was established in 1909 during the American colonial era by Governor General William Cameron Forbes as a venue for polo and leisure for the wealthy elite. It was originally loc ...

in protest to the rejection of the membership application of Manuel Nieto, aide-de-camp of Philippine President

Manuel L. Quezon Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, (; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier and politician who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 until his dea ...

. The Elizalde brothers proposed and seconded Nieto's membership application. As a sports patron, he founded the YCO and the original

basketball teams.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elizalde, Manolo Filipino people of Spanish descent Filipino people of Basque descent People from Manila 20th-century Filipino businesspeople Year of birth missing 1985 deaths