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". He was the eldest son of Doña Trinidad Lopez-Romualdez, the Romualdez grand matriarch, and uncle of
First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Romualdez Marcos, the daughter of his youngest brother Vicente Orestes Lopez Romualdez.
Biography
Born to the prominent Lopez clan of Leyte (originally from
Granada
Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
in the Andalusian region of
Spain), he is the grandson of Spanish friar and silversmith Don Francisco Lopez. Romuáldez grew up in
Leyte, where the Lopez family owned vast coconut and
abacá plantations, and first achieved status as a writer in the
Waray-Waray language. 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
Waray-Waray language. 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,
English, and
Cebuano.
Romuáldez served as an
Associate Justice of the
Philippine Supreme Court 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
Events
January
* January 1
** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...
.
Romuáldez ran for senator in
1941
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...
. 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
References
See also
*
Lope K. Santos
Lope K. Santos (born Lope Santos y Canseco, September 25, 1879 – May 1, 1963) was a Filipino Tagalog-language writer and former senator of the Philippines. He is best known for his 1906 socialist novel, '' Banaag at Sikat'' and to his contrib ...
Visayan people
1875 births
1941 deaths
Writers from Leyte (province)
Politicians from Leyte (province)
Linguists from the Philippines
Filipino Roman Catholics
Filipino writers
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
Commissioners of the Bureau of Customs of the Philippines
Waray-language writers
Norberto
Filipino people of Spanish descent
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