Aurora Quezon
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Aurora Antonia Quezon ( Aragón y Molina; February 19, 1888 – April 28, 1949) was the wife of
Philippine President The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of t ...
Manuel Luis 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 de ...
and the
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 ...
from 1935 to 1944. Although she is recognized as the second
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 ...
, she was actually the first spouse of a Philippine president to be addressed as such, the honorific being unknown in the Philippines prior to Manuel Quezon's presidency. Much beloved by Filipinos, Quezon was known for involvement with humanitarian activities and served as the first chairperson of the
Philippine National Red Cross The Philippine Red Cross (PRC; fil, Krus na Pula ng Pilipinas) is a non-profit humanitarian organization and a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The PRC was established in 1947, with roots in the Philippine Rev ...
. Five years after her husband's death, she and her daughter María Aurora ("Baby") were assassinated while they were en route to Baler to open a hospital dedicated to President Quezon. The province of
Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
was named in her memory.


Early life

Aurora Aragón was born on February 19, 1888, to Pedro Aragón and Zenaida Molina, in the town of Baler in Tayabas province.''Filipinos in History'', p. 117 Her mother was a
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 ...
mestiza (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though thei ...
born through a Spanish priest, Father Jose Urbina de Esparragosa, who arrived in Baler in 1847 serving as the town's parish priest. During the Philippine Revolution, her father was imprisoned by the colonial authorities for being suspected as being a member of the
Katipunan The Katipunan, officially known as the Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan or Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK; en, Supreme and Honorable Association of the Children of the Nation ...
; he would die in captivity. Among her tutors during her youth was her mother's sister (aunt), María Dolores Molina, who was the mother of her first cousin and future husband
Manuel Luis 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 de ...
. After her father's imprisonment, she was taken in by her aunt María Dolores and uncle Lucio, and she lived for a time under the same roof as her future spouse. After Manuel's own parents had died, he would stay with the Aragón family whenever he was in Baler. After Pedro Aragón's death, his survivors, including daughter Aurora, had been cast into extreme poverty, surviving on
subsistence farming Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...
.Martinez, p. 138 This experience was said to have shaped young Aurora's lifelong attitude of according equal treatment to everybody, no matter their status in life. The Aragón family later moved to
Lucena Lucena, officially the City of Lucena ( fil, Lungsod ng Lucena), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Calabarzon region of the Philippines. It is the capital city of the Provinces of the ...
where Manuel was then serving as the provincial fiscal of Tayabas.''Filipinos in History'', p. 118 Aurora, who had wanted to become a school teacher, enrolled at the
Philippine Normal College 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 '' ...
in Manila at the expense of her future husband, but had to stop her studies after two years due to her poor health.


Marriage and family

In 1907, Manuel Luis Quezon was elected to the
Philippine Assembly The Philippine Assembly (sometimes called the Philippine National Assembly) was the lower house of the Philippine Legislature from 1907 to 1916, when it was renamed the House of Representatives of the Philippines. The Philippine Assembly wa ...
. By 1916, he was elected to the
Philippine Senate The Senate of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Senado ng Pilipinas'', also ''Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas'' or "upper chamber") is the upper house of Congress of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines with the House of Representatives a ...
and as that chamber's
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
. Aurora often visited Quezon in Manila. In December 1918, they were married in
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. They had four children: María Aurora "Baby" (September 23, 1919 – April 28, 1949); María Zeneida "Nini" (April 9, 1921 – July 12, 2021); Luisa Corazón Paz (February 17, 1924 – December 14, 1924); and Manuel Lucio Jr. "Nonong" (June 23, 1926 – September 18, 1998). Luisa would die in infancy. The marriage lasted until Quezon's death in 1944. It withstood despite Quezon's reputation as a libertine; the author
Stanley Karnow Stanley Abram Karnow (February 4, 1925 – January 27, 2013) was an American journalist and historian. He is best known for his writings on the Vietnam War. Education and career After serving with the United States Army Air Forces in the China B ...
described Aurora Quezon as finding "solace in prayer and the Philippine law against divorce". Still, Aurora has also been described as "a devoted wife and a strict but understanding mother".''Filipinos in History'', p. 119 Quezon himself publicly extolled his wife as "my friend, companion and partner".


Political wife and First Lady

Within the first seventeen years of the marriage, Manuel Quezon emerged as a dominant figure in Philippine politics. His career reached its apex in 1935, when he was elected
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 ...
. During her husband's political life, Aurora stayed in the background, involving herself with women's organizations such as the National Federation of Women's Clubs, of which she was the honorary chairperson. ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' described Aurora as "dignified and portly". The Quezons were the first presidential couple to reside in Malacañan Palace, but she spent as little time as possible there, preferring to stay in a " ''nipa'' house" in Malacañang Park or in her farm, Kaleidan, in
Arayat, Pampanga Arayat, officially the Municipality of Arayat ( pam, Balen ning Arayat; tl, Bayan ng Arayat), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Pampanga in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 144,875 people. Geogr ...
. She nevertheless was an active First Lady, engaging herself in the campaign to give Filipino women the right of suffrage, which was achieved in 1937. She was particularly involved in managing the family's Arayat farm to demonstrate how
social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...
could be applied to landlord-tenant relationships in an agrarian setting. She was involved in the
Girl Scouts of the Philippines The Girl Scouts of the Philippines (GSP) is the national Girl Scouting association for girls and young women in the Philippines. Its mission is "to help girls and young women realize the ideals of womanhood and prepare themselves for their resp ...
and the ''Associación de Damas Filipinas'', a noted orphanage in Manila. She was also the honorary president of another orphanage, the White Cross, located in San Juan. President Quezon was re-elected in November 1941, but his presidency was immediately beset with crisis when
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
invaded An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...
the Philippines in the following month. Aurora accompanied her husband to Corregidor in December 1941, where the President was sworn in by Chief Justice
José Abad Santos José Abad Santos y Basco (, ; February 19, 1886 – May 1, 1942) was the fifth chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He briefly served as the acting president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and acting commander-in-chie ...
for his second term on December 30, 1941. For the next two months, the Quezon family remained in Corregidor where, despite the difficult living conditions, Aurora was said to have maintained her poise and kept up with a daily
mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
. In February 1942, they began their long journey via Australia to escape the Japanese and establish the
Government in exile of the Commonwealth of the Philippines The Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines in exile ( es, Gobierno de la Commonwealth de Filipinas en el exilio, tl, Pámahalaáng Kómonwélt ng Pilipinas sa pagpapatapón) was a continuation of the government of the Commonwealth of t ...
, finally reaching the United States in June 1942. While in exile, Aurora devoted her time to the care of her ailing husband, who died in
Saranac, New York Saranac is a town in Clinton County, New York, United States. The town is on the western border of the county, west of Plattsburgh, and is within the Adirondack Park. The population was 4,007 at the 2010 census. The town is named for the Sarana ...
, from tuberculosis on August 1, 1944. She then moved to California to await their return to the Philippines. She and her daughters volunteered as nurses for the
Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
.


Postwar activity

When Aurora Quezon returned to the Philippines, she was voted a pension of 1,000 pesos a month by the
Philippine Congress The Congress of the Philippines ( fil, Kongreso ng Pilipinas, italic=unset) is the legislature of the national government of the Philippines. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, although colloquially the te ...
. She returned the check, explaining: "I feel that on account of ... countless war widows and orphans ... I should waive collection of a pension . . . I cannot, in good conscience, receive ... Government assistance when so many of my less fortunate sisters and their children are not yet taken care of. . . I know f I acceptedI would not be keeping faith with the memory of my beloved husband. . . ." This act, it was said, "demonstrated why thousands of Filipinos regard her as a combination queen-mother and patron saint". Quezon was offered a slot in the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
senatorial slate for the 1946 elections, which she declined. She, however, endorsed the presidential candidacy of
Manuel Roxas Manuel Acuña Roxas (born Manuel Roxas y Acuña; ; January 1, 1892 – April 15, 1948) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of the Philippines, who served from 1946 until his death due to heart attacks in 19 ...
, who defeated her husband's vice-president and successor,
Sergio Osmeña Sergio Osmeña Sr. (, ; 9 September 1878 – 19 October 1961) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fourth president of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946. He was vice president under Manuel L. Quezon. Upon Quezon's sudd ...
, to win the presidency. In 1947, with the active support of Quezon, the
Philippine National Red Cross The Philippine Red Cross (PRC; fil, Krus na Pula ng Pilipinas) is a non-profit humanitarian organization and a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The PRC was established in 1947, with roots in the Philippine Rev ...
was established as an independent
Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
organization. She became the first Chairperson of the Philippine National Red Cross, holding the position until her death. She also was named as honorary vice-president of the Philippine Tuberculosis Society. She continued to be involved in civic work, such as the efforts to rebuild the Antipolo Church. She received honorary doctorates from the
University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Migue ...
, and from the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
at
Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...
. She was likewise bestowed the Ozanam Award from the
Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic ( Jesuits) , academic ...
, and the Pro Ecclessia et Pontifice Cross from
Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...
.


Assassination

On the morning of April 28, 1949, Quezon left her home to travel to her husband's hometown of Baler to open the Quezon Memorial Hospital. She had been cautioned about this trip beforehand due to the frequent insurgency activities in
Central Luzon Central Luzon ( pam, (Reyun ning) Kalibudtarang Luzon, pag, (Rehiyon na) Pegley na Luzon, tgl, (Rehiyon ng) Gitnang Luzon, ilo, (Rehion/Deppaar ti) Tengnga ti Luzon), designated as Region III, is an administrative region in the Philippines, ...
of the
Hukbalahap The Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (), better known by the acronym Hukbalahap, was a communist guerrilla movement formed by the farmers of Central Luzon. They were originally formed to fight the Japanese, but extended their fight into a rebelli ...
, the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines. She shrugged off the threat, remarking on the morning of the trip, " ukbalahap Supremo Taruc knows my white hair and he will not hurt me."Martinez, p. 149 Nonetheless, a convoy of thirteen vehicles, including two military jeeps full of armed soldiers, accompanied Quezon.Martinez, p. 148 Together with Quezon in her Buick sedan were her daughter "Baby", then a law student at the
University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Migue ...
, her son-in-law Felipe "Philip" Buencamino (husband of "Nini"),
Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was fou ...
mayor
Ponciano Bernardo Ponciano A. Bernardo (December 2, 1905 – April 28, 1949) was a Filipino engineer and politician who served as mayor of Quezon City, holding the position from 1947 until his death in 1949. It was during his tenure that Quezon City was designated ...
and retired Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Rafael Jalandoni. They traveled along the Baler-
Bongabon Bongabon, officially the Municipality of Bongabon ( ilo, Ili ti Bongabon; tl, Bayan ng Bongabon), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 66,839 people. It ha ...
Road connecting Baler with
Nueva Ecija Nueva Ecija, officially the Province of Nueva Ecija ( tgl, Lalawigan ng Nueva Ecija , also ; ilo, Probinsia ti Nueva Ecija; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Nueva Ecija; Kapampangan: ''Lalawigan/Probinsia ning Nueva Ecija''), is a landlocked province ...
, which Quezon herself inaugurated in 1940. At Quezon's request, her vehicle led the caravan, and it soon sped away from the military jeep immediately behind it. As Quezon's vehicle traversed the mountain road, it was blocked by a group of armed men.Martinez, p. 150 The men ignored the protestations from General Jalandoni and Mayor Bernardo that Quezon was in the vehicle, and machine-gun fire erupted from the side of the road and from the mountain slopes. It was later estimated that between 100 and 200 armed men had participated in the attack. Mrs. Quezon, her daughter, and Bernardo were killed instantly, while her son-in-law was mortally wounded. The soldiers in the convoy soon arrived at the scene and exchanged fire with the assailants, who were able to seize the valuables of the victims before fleeing the scene. In all, twelve members of the Quezon party and ten of the assailants were killed. There was national and international condemnation of the massacre. United States
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
was shocked and simply declared, "It was awful." A nine-day national mourning period was declared, and President
Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (born Elpidio Quirino y Rivera; ; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the sixth president of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino ente ...
openly wept during the funeral. Quezon was buried at
Manila North Cemetery The Manila North Cemetery (Spanish: ''Cementerio del Norte'') is one of the oldest cemeteries in Metro Manila, Philippines. The cemetery is owned by and located in the City of Manila, the national capital, and is one of the largest in the metropo ...
. The mourners included her two surviving children, Manuel Jr. and Nini, who herself was widowed by the massacre. While no Philippine president has ever been assassinated, Aurora Quezon is one of three presidential spouses to have been murdered. (The other two were Alicia Syquia-Quirino and Senator
Benigno Aquino Jr. Benigno "Ninoy" Simeon Aquino Jr., (; November 27, 1932 – August 21, 1983) was a Filipino politician who served as a senator of the Philippines (1967–1972) and governor of the province of Tarlac. Aquino was the husband of Corazon Aqui ...
, both of whom died before their spouses were elected president.) It was widely believed that the
Hukbalahap The Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (), better known by the acronym Hukbalahap, was a communist guerrilla movement formed by the farmers of Central Luzon. They were originally formed to fight the Japanese, but extended their fight into a rebelli ...
was responsible for the killings. In preparation of the attack, the insurgents had blockaded the road and rounded up passengers from passing vehicles, and one of those passengers claimed seeing a former employee of his who had joined the Huk as among the armed men. While General Jalandoni, who survived the attack, tagged the Huks as responsible, the chief of the
Philippine Constabulary The Philippine Constabulary (PC; tl, Hukbóng Pamayapà ng Pilipinas, ''HPP''; es, Policía de Filipinas, ''PF'') was a gendarmerie-type police force of the Philippines from 1901 to 1991, and the predecessor to the Philippine National Po ...
laid blame instead on bandits. President Quirino blamed the Huks and responded by calling for "a people's war on the dissidents".Martinez, p. 152
Luis Taruc Luis Mangalus Taruc (; June 21, 1913 – May 4, 2005) was a Filipino political figure and rebel during the agrarian unrest of the 1930s until the end of the Cold War. He was the leader of the Hukbalahap group (from ''Hukbong Bayan Laban s ...
, ''supremo'' of the Hukbalahap, denied that his group was responsible for the crime, though he also claimed that the Huk were conducting an investigation of their own if one of the group had breached ranks and participated in the killing. Nonetheless, after Taruc's surrender in 1954, he was formally charged for the murder of Quezon and other members of her party; these charges would be dropped before they could be heard on trial. Throughout the 1950s, several other captured Huk members would be charged for participation in the assassination, with five of them being sentenced to death by a
Cabanatuan City Cabanatuan, officially the City of Cabanatuan ( fil, Lungsod ng Cabanatuan; ilo, Siudad ti Cabanatuan), is a 1st class component city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 327,325 peo ...
trial court. Luis Taruc later wrote the killings were discussed as an agenda item at the December 1949 to January 1950 Politburo meeting, "the accidental killing in a Huk ambush of Mrs. Quezon, widow of the late President Quezon, and her daughter. The majority took a characteristic Communist attitude toward this deplorable event. The victims had been 'class enemies', and that settled everything."Taruc, L., 1967, He Who Rides the Tiger, London: Geoffrey Chapman Ltd. On April 28, 2005, exactly fifty-six years after her death, the remains of Quezon were transferred from North Cemetery for interment in a black crypt beside her husband's
sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
at the Quezon Memorial in
Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was fou ...
. The re-interment rites were attended by President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the House Deputy Speakers since 2022, and previously from 2016 to 2017. She previously ...
and the Quezons' sole surviving child, Zenaida "Nini" Quezon-Avanceña.


Legacy

The Manila Provincial Road that traverses from Quezon City to Manila was renamed
Aurora Boulevard Aurora Boulevard is a four-to-ten lane major thoroughfare in Quezon City and San Juan in Metro Manila, Philippines. It was named after Doña Aurora Quezon, the consort of Commonwealth President Manuel Luis Quezon. It is one of the major roads ...
in her honor in 1951. In the same year,
Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (born Elpidio Quirino y Rivera; ; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the sixth president of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino ente ...
created the Aurora sub-province comprising Baler and surrounding areas in the adjacent
Quezon Province Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon ( tl, Lalawigan ng Quezon), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Kalilayan was the first known name of the province. It was later renamed Tayabas. In honor of the ...
. In 1978,
Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
became a separate province. Manuel and Aurora Quezon are the only spouses to have respective provinces in the Philippines named after them. The first major building erected on Aurora Boulevard (also called Aurora Avenue), that is, the Aurora Tower at the
Araneta Center Araneta City (stylized in all lowercase), formerly and still commonly known as Araneta Center, is a transit oriented, commercial mixed-use development in Quezon City, Philippines. Situated in Barangay Socorro in Cubao, and at the intersectio ...
in
Cubao Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was fou ...
, was named after her. Her foremost legacy in the field of education was
Mount Carmel College of Baler The Mount Carmel College of Baler (''Kolehiyong Monte Carmelo ng Baler'' in Filipino language, Filipino), commonly referred to as MCC Baler or MCCB, is the oldest Catholic Mission (Christianity), mission school in the Philippine province of Auror ...
(formerly called Mount Carmel High School), a Catholic mission school founded in 1948 by American Carmelite missionaries who came to this town upon her invitation. The Concerned Women of the Philippines named the Aurora Aragon Quezon Peace Awards after her in 1988. The award was called the Human Rights Award in 1981, and winners included the
Free Legal Assistance Group The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) is a nationwide organization of human rights lawyers in the Philippines. It was founded in 1974 by Sen. Jose W. Diokno, Lorenzo Tañada and Joker Arroyo during the martial law era under former Presiden ...
, the Agrava Commission, Jose W. Diokno, Claudio O. Teehankee, the MABINI law firm, and
Cecilia Muñoz-Palma Cecilia Muñoz-Palma (November 22, 1913 – January 2, 2006) was a Filipino jurist and the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of the Philippines. She was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ferdinand Marcos on October 29, 1973, a ...
, but it was changed to focus on peace in 1988. Aurora A. Quezon Elementary School in
Malate, Manila Malate is a district of Manila, Philippines. Together with the district of Ermita, it serves as Manila's center for commerce and tourism. Etymology The name ''Malate'' is believed to be derived from a corruption of the Tagalog word ''maalat'' ...
is also named for her, as well as the municipality of
Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
in
Zamboanga del Sur Zamboanga del Sur ( Cebuano: ''Habagatang Zamboanga;'' Subanen: ''S'helatan Sembwangan/Sembwangan dapit Shelatan''; Chavacano: ''Zamboanga del Sur''; tl, Timog Zamboanga; mdh, Pagabatan Sambuanga), officially the Province of Zamboanga del Sur, ...
. According to folktales, Doña Aurora Quezon wished to have a flower entitled to her, thus the 'Doña Aurora' (Mussaenda philippica) flower.


In popular culture

* Portrayed by
Rachel Alejandro Rachel Jingco Alejandro (born February 18, 1974) is a Filipino singer and actress. Biography Early life Alejandro's mother and father separated when she was four. Her mother then remarried and moved to the United States. Together with her fat ...
in the film ''
Quezon's Game ''Quezon's Game'' is a 2018 Philippine Biographical film, biographical drama film directed by Matthew Rosen. The film centers on Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon and his plan to shelter History of the Jews in Germany, German and History of th ...
'' (2019).


Notes


References

* *


External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Quezon, Aurora 1888 births 1949 deaths 1949 murders in the Philippines Assassinated Filipino people Deaths by firearm in the Philippines Filipino nurses Filipino suffragists People from Aurora (province) People from Quezon
Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
Filipino philanthropists First Ladies and First Gentlemen of the Philippines People murdered in the Philippines Filipino feminists Philippine Normal University alumni Spouses of presidents of the Philippines 20th-century philanthropists Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Merit (Philippines)