2. •
• March 3 , 1894 , Paz Marquez - Benitez was
born in Lucena City, Quezon
• Posted under March history
• Friday March 02 , 2012 (5 years ago)
• On March 3, 1894 ,
3. • educator Paz Marquez -Benitez, who authored
the first Filipino modern English -language
short story "Dead Stars", was born in Lucena
City , Quezon.
• Benitez was among the first generation of
Filipinos trained in the American education
system which used English as the medium of
instruction.
4. • She taught at the University of the Philippines’
English department from 1916 to 1951 ,
acquiring a reputation as an outstanding
teacher.
• She became an influential figure to many
Filipino writers in the English language ,
among them , Loreto Paras Sulit, Paz Latorena
, Bienvenido Santos , Manuel Arguilla , S .P .
Lopez and National Artist Francisco Arcellana,
who later emphatically declared, “She was the
mother of us all!”
5. • In 1919 , she founded "Woman 's Home
Journal", the first women 's magazine in the
country . In 1928 , she compiled "Filipino Love
Stories, " reportedly the first anthology of
Philippine stories in English by Filipinos , from
the works of her students.
• She married UP College of Education Dean
Francisco Benítez, with whom she had four
children.
• She died on November 10, 1983 .
6. • The annually held Paz Marquez -Benitez
Lectures (Ateneo ) honors her memory by
focusing on the contributions of Filipino
women writers to Philippine Literature in the
English language .
• Reference: Philippine News Agency archives
