Manuel Bernabe

Manuel Bernabé y Hernández (February 27, 1890 – November 29, 1960) was a Filipino journalist, politician, linguist, and poet in Spanish and Latin languages. He was given the title "King of Balagtasan" in Spanish.

Early life

Bernabe was born on February 17, 1890, in Parañaque to Timoteo Bernabe, who would later serve as the municipal president of Parañaque, and Emilia Hernandez. He was only nine years old when he began to write verses in Spanish and by the age of fourteen, he was already speaking Latin.

Bernabe earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Ateneo Municipal de Manila as a valedictorian. There, he translated '' Virgil's Aeneid'' from Latin to Spanish. He later took up law at University of Santo Tomas.

Career

Literature

After graduating from law, Bernabe joined the newspaper ''La Democracia'' and then ''La Vanguardia'' before becoming a contributor to ''Excelsior''. He taught Spanish at the University of Santo Tomas, University of the Philippines, Far Eastern University, Philippine Law School and Colegio de San Juan de Letran.

Bernabe was a lyric poet, and the usual subject of his poems are festivals and celebrations although he can cover any subject. The collection of poems written by him is titled ''Cantos del Tropico''. Another book by Bernabe that also contains his writings is the ''Perfil de Cresta'', which includes his translation of Omar Khayyam's '' Rubaiyat'' and Claro M. Recto's ''portico''. Bernabe's other poems are: ''No Mas Amor Que El Tuyo'', ''El Imposible'', ''Canta Poeta'', ''Castidad'', ''Mi Adios a Ilo-ilo'' and ''España en Filipinas''.

In a ''balagtasan'' where he and Jesus Balmori fought on the subject of ''El Recuerdo y el Olvido'', no winner was revealed because they were both good but in the sound of applause after the ''balagtasan'', it appeared that Bernabe attracted the audience.

Politics

As a politician, Bernabe was elected as a representative from the 1st district of Rizal in 1928 and served for one term until 1931. He retired from politics and returned to ''La Vanguardia''. He was appointed technical assistant for Filipino–Spanish Relations at Malacañang, serving from 1943 to 1947.

He was later appointed head of the National Library of the Philippines in the 1950s, where he translated Marcelo H. del Pilar's writings to Tagalog.

Awards

As early as 1913, Bernabe had already won three awards from three different organizations for his works ''Himno al Sagrado Corazon de Jesus'', ''El Zapote'', and ''España en Filipinas''.

In 1926, he and Balmori were awarded the '' Premio Zóbel'' for their work ''Hombre y mujer''. Because of his efforts to use the Spanish language as a medium of writing, he was conferred the award ''El Yugo y las Flechas'' in 1940 and Order of Isabella the Catholic in 1953. He was honored at the University of Santo Tomas as the best poet in Spanish in 1950.

Notable works

* ''Cantos del Tropico''
* ''Perfil de Cresta''

Death and legacy

Bernabe died on November 29, 1960.

The Manuel Bernabé Research Writing Contest, which existed until the mid-1990s, was named after him.

References

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1890 births
1960 deaths
Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Rizal (province)
People from the Spanish East Indies
Filipino male poets
Filipino poets
Ateneo de Manila University alumni
University of Santo Tomas alumni
Filipino educators
Tagalog people
Writers from Rizal (province)
Filipino journalists
Bernabe
20th-century Filipino politicians
20th-century Filipino poets
20th-century Filipino male writers
Spanish-language writers of the Philippines
Deaths from coronary thrombosis
Democrata Party politicians