Paz Marquez-Benitez's 129th Birthday

Today’s Doodle celebrates the 129th birthday of Filipino writer, editor, and teacher Paz Márquez-Benítez. Throughout her career, she developed Philippine literature and taught many of the nation’s most distinguished writers. She is known for writing the first modern Philippine short story penned in English, Dead Stars.

Márquez-Benítez was born to a family of teachers in Lucena, Quezon on this day in 1894. An academic prodigy, she enrolled in high school at age nine and was highly praised for her prowess in English. She then attended the Philippine Normal University in Manila where she discovered her love for writing. Two years later, Márquez-Benítez studied at the newly-formed University of the Philippines’ College of Liberal Arts, graduating in 1912.

She soon returned to her alma mater as a writing teacher and used her platform to write Dead Stars in 1925. Márquez-Benítez was a strong proponent of preserving Philippine heritage and firmly supported independence, and the short story’s two main characters symbolized American imperialism. It was published in the Philippines Herald and drew critical acclaim as a national literary work.

She was a mentor to many writers who later became famous and compiled the first anthology of Philippine stories in the English language, Filipino Love Stories (1928), featuring works from her students. Beyond these achievements, Márquez-Benítez helped found the Philippine Women’s University. She also served as editor for the Philippine Educational Magazine and the Women’s Home Journal, the country’s first women’s magazine.

The Ateneo Library of Women’s Writings now hosts the annual Márquez-Benítez Lecture and Exhibit to remember Filipino women writers who contributed to Philippine literature in English. Her daughter, Virginia Benítez Licuanan, wrote her biography Paz Márquez-Benítez: One Woman's Life, Letters, and Writings in 1995, which also includes her letters and diary entries.

Happy birthday, Paz Márquez-Benitez!