Today’s Doodle celebrates multilingual Filipino writer and academic Genoveva Matute on her 105th birthday. Matute was a language teacher for over 45 years and is widely known for her short stories, many of which fictionalized scenes from Filipino history.
Matute was born in Santa Cruz, Manila, on this day in 1915. She attended the University of Santo Tomas, where she obtained her PhD in 1964, and began teaching at the elementary and high school level before becoming a university professor.
Throughout her academic career, she wrote a number of historically based short stories that were included in many textbooks for elementary and high school. Matute wrote in multiple languages: her mother Filipino tongue of Tagalog, her second language English, and also in Filipino when it became the national language.
Her writings are lauded for their contributions to Tagalog literature and Filipino cultural identity. Widely considered to be her most famous work, “
Ang Kuwento ni Mabuti” (“The Story of Mabuti”) is the most anthologized short story in the native Tagalog language and is still read to Filipino school children of all ages.
Between 1951 and 1961, Matute won four Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for her short stories, including for “
Ang Kuwento ni Mabuti,” which was the first Tagalog short story to win the grand prize. She was also the first Filipino woman to win this prestigious literary award.
She eventually retired as the Dean of the Filipino Department at Philippine Normal College (now Philippine Normal University) in 1980.
Maligayang bati (Happy birthday), Genoveva Matute!
Early concepts and drafts by artist Olivia When
03.01.2020-Friday-வெள்ளி-Doodle-Genoveva Matute's 105th Birthday-PNG.
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