Severino Reyes y Rivera (February 11, 1861 – September 15, 1942) was a Filipino writer, playwright, and director of plays. He used the pen name Lola Basyang. He was nicknamed "Don Binoy".

Early life and education

Severino Reyes was born on February 11, 1861 in Santa Cruz,

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 populated ...

during the Spanish colonial era to Rufino Reyes and Andrea Rivera. He pursued his early education in an institution owned by Catalino Sanchez and acquired a bachelor's degree at the Escuela de Segunda Enseñanza of the

Colegio de San Juan de Letran The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, (transl: College of San Juan de Letran) also referred to by its acronym CSJL, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution owned and run by the friars of the Order of Preachers i ...

. He also attended the University of Santo Tomas to pursue a degree in Philosophy.

Career

Reyes wrote 26 zarzuelas and 22 dramas in his career. He is known as the "Father of Tagalog Plays" and as the "Father of the Tagalog Zarzuela". He took a clerical job at the Tesoreria General de Hacienda as a means to get avoided to being enlisted into the Spanish Army to fight against the Moros in

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

and Sulu. However he quit the job and decided to set up a store at Calle Ascarraga after he struggled supporting his family with low income he got from his old job. The Gran Compania de Zarzuela Tagala was established in 1902 by Reyes, also directing '' zarzuellas'' himself for the group. The first one-act piece of the troupe, ''Ang Kalupi'' premiered at

Zorrilla Theatre The Zorrilla Theatre or Teatro Zorrilla, also known as the ''Duláang Zorrilla sa Maynila'' ("Zorrilla Theater in Manila") in Tagalog, was a prominent theater in the Philippines. Once located along Calle Iris (now a part of C.M. Recto Avenue), Man ...

in April 1902. On June 14, 1902, Zarzuela Tagala staged '' Walang Sugat'' a drama set in Bulacan during the Philippine Revolution. Still on the same year, Reyes staged the ''R.I.P (Requiescat in Pace)'' in Manila. His other Tagalog-language zarzuelas include ''Minda Mora'', ''Mga Bihag ni Cupido'', ''Ang Bagong Fausto'', ''Ang Tunay na Hukom'', ''Ang Tatlong Bituin'', ''Margaritang Mananahi'', ''Ang Halik ng Isang Patay'' and ''Luha ng Kagalakan''. The program of his plays was also exhibited by Governor-General William Howard Taft at the St. Louis World Exposition and the Panama Pacific International Exposition Reyes helped found the '' Liwayway'' magazine in 1922, where he published ''

Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang ''Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang'' (Tagalog, literally "The Stories of Grandmother Basyang") is an anthology of short stories written by "Lola Basyang," the pen name of Severino Reyes, founder and editor of the Tagalog magazine, '' Liwayway''. Th ...

'' a series of short stories. He used the titular character

Lola Basyang ''Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang'' ( Tagalog, literally "The Stories of Grandmother Basyang") is an anthology of short stories written by "Lola Basyang," the pen name of Severino Reyes, founder and editor of the Tagalog magazine, ''Liwayway''. The o ...

as his pen name and the work became the magazine's most widely read feature.

Works

*'' Walang Sugat'' *''R.I.P (Requiescat in Pace)'' *''Mga Bihag ni Cupido'' *''Ang Tunay na Hukom'' *''Kalye Pogi'' *''Ang Halik ni Hudas'' *''Cablegrama Fatal'' *''Puso ng Isang Pilipina'' *''Ang Bagong Fausto'' *''Filotea, o Ang Pag-aasawa ni San Pedro'' *''Opera Italiana'' *''San Lazaro'' *''Alamat ng Lamok''

Personal life

Reyes married his childhood friend Maria Paz Puato with whom he had 17 children. He spoke both

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Taga ...

and Spanish, and understood Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and various

Philippine languages The Philippine languages or Philippinic are a proposed group by R. David Paul Zorc (1986) and Robert Blust (1991; 2005; 2019) that include all the languages of the Philippines and northern Sulawesi, Indonesia—except Sama–Bajaw (language ...

aside from Tagalog.

Death

Severino died on September 15, 1942 in Manila due to

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...

in World War 2.

Legacy

On February 11, 2022, Reyes was honored with a Google Doodle in commemoration of his 161st birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reyes, Severino Colegio de San Juan de Letran alumni Filipino writers Filipino dramatists and playwrights Filipino theatre directors People from Santa Cruz, Manila Writers from Manila 1861 births 1942 deaths University of Santo Tomas alumni Severino