TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: Philippine Women: Five Generations of Filipinas -- from Juana to Cecilia

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Philippine Women: Five Generations of Filipinas -- from Juana to Cecilia

I'm reposting a blog entry about my Women Ancestors and me -- these pictures show five generations of women.

GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER - Juana Lopez Diosomito from Naic, Cavite; born circa 1850, businesswoman; married a Spaniard (father of Remedios and Concepcion), then a second time to Domingo Veloso from Leyte (father of Feodor and Domingo Veloso); an aunt said she "loved to dance." I have a legal document that says that in 1896, "Dona Juana Lopez Diosomito of Baybay, Leyte, purchased (for 3,000 pesos, pacto de retro) two houses in Cebu City, one in mamposteria and solar on calle de Prim, facing the Plaza de General Lono, and the other of calle de Prim, in the barrio of Maloco, from Don Prudencio Sanson Camara, negociante, married, natural and vecino of Cebu City (Cebu Protocolos, Doc 11, 1/27/1896/1411:74-77)

GREAT-GRANDMOTHER - Remedios Lopez Diosomito; born 1870; married Mariano Albao Cuenco when she was 13; bore him 16 children although only 4 survived to adulthood (Dolores and Jaime died young); widowed at 39; took over her husband's Imprenta Rosario making her the first woman publisher of Cebu and the entire Philippines; also invested in real estate; mother of: Archbishop Jose Maria Cuenco of Jaro, Iloilo, Senator Mariano Jesus Cuenco, Representative Miguel Cuenco, and writer Remedios Cuenco Borromeo; died in 1945 at the age of 75.

GRANDMOTHER - Filomena Alesna Cuenco from Carcar; born May 1, 1882, parents: Evaristo Barcenilla Alesna and Cresencia Ynosencia Sanchez Villarosa; parents died when she was young and she and her 2 sisters were raised by 2 old maid aunts; her older sister Placida married Mateo Noel; her younger sister Josefa married Isabelo Montesclaros; Filomena married Mariano Jesus Cuenco; they had 8 children (6 survived to adulthood: Manuel, Lourdes, Concepcion, Carmen, Consuelo, Teresita; the 2 who died as children were Maria and Corazon); had a stroke and died June 8, 1939.

MOTHER - Concepcion Cuenco Manguerra; born Feb.18, 1912; Carnival Petit Queen of Cebu in 1931; married Engr. Mariano Flores Manguerra from Sta. Rosa, Laguna; mother of 5 children (4 survived to adulthood: Victoria, Mariano, Ana Maria, and Cecilia Catalina; a boy was born prematurely and died during WWII); a business woman, she also invested in real estate; died in November 7, 2002 at the age of 90. She has a memorial website at www.palhbooks.com/iton.html.

AND ME - Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is the award-winning author and editor of twenty books. Brainard's works include the World War II novel, When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, Magdalena, and Woman with Horns and Other Stories. Her third novel, The Newspaper Widow, is forthcoming (University of Santo Tomas Press). She edited several anthologies including Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and two volumes of Growing Up Filipino I and II, books used by educators. (For more info, read Wikipedia and her Official site)

Here are more sources re these women and their families:

The Families of Old Cebu - scroll to "Cuenco"; this site has a lot of information about the Cuenco family
Philippine Government site on Senators
Jose Maria Cuenco - English-Visayan Dictionary
University of Minnesota bio of Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

These site have information about Philippine Carnival Queens, updated by Cecilia Brainard in 2022.

Cebu Carnival Queens Philippines from 1914-1941 including Concepcion Cuenco Manguerra - https://cbrainard.blogspot.com/2022/01/cebu-carnival-queens-philippines-from.html

Cebu Carnival Queens and Other Queens, Philippines - Part 2 - https://cbrainard.blogspot.com/2022/01/cebu-carnival-and-other-queens.html

Post-War Cebu Life - More Memorabilia photos

Where Have all the Young Men Gone? - Memorabilia photos

The Bachelors and Femina Days of Cebu - Memorabilia photos
Old Photographs and Memories

The Schools I attended, Part 1, St.Theresa's College
The Schools I attended, Part 2, UP & Maryknoll
The Schools I attended, Part 3, UCLA

Saying Goodbye to Papa
Where the Daydreaming Came From
Death of a Carnival Queen

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tags: Philippines, Philippine, Filipina, Filipino, women, Cebu, Cuenco, politics, family, history, author, writer, Philippine literature, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books.. Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized. Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.