Norberto Romuáldez y López (June 6, 1875 – November 4, 1941), often referred to as Norberto Romuáldez Sr. to distinguish him from his son with the same name, was a Philippine writer, politician, jurist, and statesman. He was the first Lopez-Romuáldez to attain national prominence, and is deemed the "Father of the Law on the

National Language A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection—de facto or de jure—with a nation. There is little consistency in the use of this term. One or more languages spoken as first languages in the te ...

". He was the eldest son of Doña Trinidad Lopez-Romualdez, the Romualdez grand matriarch, and uncle of

First Lady of the Philippines The first lady or first gentleman of the Philippines ( fil, Unang Ginang o Unang Ginoó ng Pilipinas) is the courtesy title given to the host or hostess of Malacañang Palace, the residence of the head of state and head of government of the Phil ...

Imelda Romualdez Marcos Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitacion Trinidad Romualdez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who served as the First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power during the dictator ...

, the daughter of his youngest brother Vicente Orestes Lopez Romualdez.

Biography

Born to the prominent Lopez clan of Leyte (originally from Granada in the Andalusian region of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

), he is the grandson of Spanish friar and silversmith Don Francisco Lopez. Romuáldez grew up in

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

, where the Lopez family owned vast coconut and

abacá Abacá ( ; fil, Abaka ), binomial name ''Musa textilis'', is a species of banana native to the Philippines, grown as a commercial crop in the Philippines, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. The plant, also known as Manila hemp, has great economic impo ...

plantations, and first achieved status as a writer in the

Waray-Waray language Waray (also known as Waray-Waray or Bisaya/Binisaya nga Winaray/Waray) is an Austronesian language and the fifth-most-spoken native regional language of the Philippines, native to Eastern Visayas. It is the native language of the Waray people ...

. His first Waray ''zarzuela'' was ''An Pagtabang ni San Miguel'' (The Aid of Saint Michael). In 1908, Romuáldez wrote ''Bisayan Grammar and Notes on Bisayan Rhetoric and Poetic and Filipino Dialectology'', a treatise on the grammar of the

. The following year (1909) he founded the ''Sanghiran san Binisaya ha Samar ug Leyte'' (Academy of the Visayan Language of Samar and Leyte) for the purpose of promoting and intellectualizing Waray-Waray. Romuáldez was also fluent in other languages like

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 ...

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 ...

, and Cebuano. Romuáldez served as an

Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...

of the

Philippine Supreme Court The Supreme Court ( fil, Kataas-taasang Hukuman; colloquially referred to as the ''Korte Suprema'' lso used in formal writing is the highest court in the Philippines. The Supreme Court was established by the Second Philippine Commission on Ju ...

during the American Period. He was also a participant in the 1934-1935 Constitutional Convention which resulted in the 1935 Constitution for the Philippine Commonwealth. He was later elected as assemblyman from the 4th district of Leyte through a special election in 1936. He was re-elected in 1938. Romuáldez ran for senator in 1941. However, he died on November 4, 1941, a week before the election, after an undisclosed illness. A book written about his niece's life notes that he died of a heart attack in Samar.Imelda Marcos By Carmen Navarro Pedrosa (1987)

Writings

Published works

*1899: ''An Pagtabang ni San Miguel'' ("The Aid of Saint Michael"; drama) *1908: ''Bisayan Grammar and Notes on Bisayan Rhetoric and Poetic and Filipino Dialectology'' (linguistics) *1914: ''Tagbanwa Alphabet with Some Reforms Proposed'' (essays) *1918: ''Philippine Orthography'' (essays) *1921: ''An Anak han Manaranggot'' ("The Tuba Gatherer's Child", drama) *1925: ''The Psychology of the Filipino'' (lectures) *1931: ''Filipino Musical Instruments and Airs of Long Ago'' (lectures) *1933: ''Philippine Legal and Business Forms Annotated''; co-authored with Enrique P. Custodio

Biography

Writings

Published works

References

See also