Trinidad Fernandez Legarda (March 28, 1899 – February 2, 1998) was a Filipina suffragist, clubwoman, philanthropist, and editor. She was the first woman ambassador from the Philippines, when she was appointed in 1958.

Early life

Trinidad Fernandez y Rodriguez was born in

Cuyo, Palawan Cuyo, officially the Municipality of Cuyo ( cyo, Banwa 'ang Cuyo, tgl, Bayan ng Cuyo), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 23,489 people. Its territory incl ...

, the daughter of Clemente Fernandez and Vicenta Rodriguez. While she was still a teenager, Trinidad Fernandez trained to be a teacher, taught school in her hometown, and began working as secretary to an American clubwoman in Manila.Quijano de Manila
"Trinidad Legarda: Civil Leader of the Year"
''Philippine Free Press'' (11 April 1953). She was a beauty queen as a young woman, holding the title Queen of the

Manila Carnival Manila Carnival was an annual carnival festival held in Manila during the early American colonial period up to the time before the Second World War. It was organized by the American colonial administration to celebrate harmonious US and Philip ...

in 1924.Alex R. Castro
"1924, Queen of the Manila Carnival, Trinidad Rodriguez Fernandez"
''Manila Carnivals, 1908-1939: A Pictorial History of the "Greatest Event in the Orient"'' (8 January 2009).

Career

Trinidad Fernandez Legarda was English-language editor of ''The Woman's Outlook'', a pro-suffrage publication in the Philippines. She was also president of the National Federation of Women's Clubs, and a leader in the Filipina suffrage movement. Her 1931 essay in ''Philippine Magazine'', "Philippine Women and the Vote", drew from American rhetoric, but also quoted a Hindu proverb, in making the case for suffrage. She was president of the Manila Symphony Society from 1933 to 1958. During

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 opposing ...

she set up a convalescent home for veterans and war widows. In 1946, she led the reorganization of the National Federation of Women's Clubs, which had lost most of its assets during the war. In 1949, she ran unsuccessfully for a senate seat. She represented the Philippines at international meetings after World War II. In 1953, Trinidad F. Legarda was named Civic Leader of the Year. She was appointed ambassador to South Vietnam in 1958, and served in that role until 1962. She was the first woman ambassador to represent the Philippines.

Personal life

Trinidad Fernandez married lawyer Benito Legarda IV (grandson of

Benito Legarda Benito Cosme Legarda y Tuason (September 27, 1853 – August 27, 1915) was a Filipino legislator who was a member of the Philippine Commission of the American colonial Insular Government, the government's legislature, and later a Resident Comm ...

) in 1925. They had three children, Benito (1926–2020), Filomenita (1928–1931), and Carmen (1932–1986). She was widowed in 1973 and died in 1998 aged 98. Attorney and advocate Katrina Legarda is her granddaughter.Amelita D. Guevara
"MSO reprise conveys full emotion of historic 1945 performance"
''Philippine Daily Inquirer'' (30 March 2015).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legarda, Trinidad 1899 births 1998 deaths People from Palawan Filipino suffragists Ambassadors of the Philippines to Vietnam Filipino editors Filipino beauty pageant winners Filipino women ambassadors Clubwomen Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Merit (Philippines)