Great among the great Filipino scholars, Epifanio Cristobal de los
Santos, generally known as Don Panyong, was born on the 7th of
April 1871 in Malabon, Rizal. He was the solitary son of Don
Escolastico de los Santos, a prominent haciendero, and Doña
Antonina Cristobal, an educated musician.
At the age of seven, he was tutored by Sr. Jose A. Flores in
Manila. He later enrolled in his father’s Alma Mater, the Ateneo
Municipal. On March 16, 1890, he received the Bachelor of Arts
degree from Ateneo with the highest honors of summa cum laude.
In 1891, he took jurisprudence at the Santo Tomas Law School
where he obtained his Licentiate in Law 1898.
He also studied music and painting. Don Panyong was a gifted
musician. He was a fine pianist and a superb guitarist. During his
time, he was one of the three outstanding guitarists of the
Philippines, the other two being General Fernando Canon, a
revolutionary hero, and Guillermo Tolentino, a distinguished
sculptor. He also possessed a talent for painting, which he,
unfortunately, did not choose to pursue or develop.
Don Panyong married Ursula Paez on April 1899. Her early demise
cut short their marriage but not until she bore him four children.
Their eldest, Jose P. Santos, became a well known historian and
writer in his own right. In 1908, Don Panyong remarried. His
second wife, Margarita Torralba, gave him eight children.
When the 1898 revolution broke out, Don Panyong together with
Jose Zulueta published in Malabon a patriotic newspaper named La
Libertad. The publication was short lived having been censored by
the revolutionary government. He then joined the editorial staff
of Gen. Antonio Luna’s revolutionary paper, La Independencia,
using the pseudonym G. Solon in his articles.
It was early 1900 when he became a District Attorney of San Isidro,
Nueva Ecija, his father’s hometown, and later on became
Provincial Secretary. He was elected Governor of Nueva Ecija in
1902 and was reelected in 1904. That same year, he was appointed
member of the Philippine Commission, representing the country in
the St. Louis Exposition. He became Prosecuting Attorney (Fiscal)
for the provinces of Bulacan and Bataan on March 30, 1906, and
was reappointed as Fiscal for Bulacan only on October 1, 1907.
Governor – General Francis Burton Harrison designated him
Assistant Director of the Philippine Census in 1918.
Don Panyong toured through Europe, visiting the libraries and
museums of England, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Austria
in search of rare valuable works and relics about the Philippines.
The articles gathered from his researches abroad became the
nucleus of the Filipiniana collection in the Philippines. His passion
for acquiring rare books, manuscripts, paintings, opera records,
and antiques as well as old books, historical documents, and other
relics virtually converted his home into a combined art gallery,
museum, and archives. He was a discriminating collector of
uncommon and antique objects that are true landmarks of
Philippine culture. Through his analyses of these, he greatly
enriched the history and literature of our people. He was among
the few who could determine whether a Tagalog word is an
original or an adapted one. He knew the etymology of Tagalog as
well as other dialects like Tingian, Ibilao and Ita.
Don Panyong’s fame as a man of letters was acknowledged,
honored and respected not only in the Philippines but also in
foreign countries. In Europe, he was recognized as a premier
philologist and writer of biographical and historical matters about
the Philippines. He was the first Filipino, of native parentage, to
join and become a member of the Royal Academy of Madrid.
Cecilio Apostol portrayed him as one of the country’s two best
Filipino writers in Spanish prose of all times, the other being
Marcelo H. Del Pilar.
Indisputably, Don Panyong was the best critic, writer and
biographer that the Golden Age of Literature of the Philippines
ever produced. An artist by disposition, he was a scholar in the
truest sense, fascinated and well versed in all branches of human
learning. He was also known as the most authoritative historian
and interpreter of fruitful and transcendental events of the epoch.
He accepted the position of Director of the Philippine Library and
Museum, upon the death of Dr. Pardo H. Tavera on May 16, 1925,
not for the relatively low stipends but because of the honor
attached to the chair. The office was by tradition only for men of
learning and erudition. He held the position until his untimely
death on the 18th of April 1928. In the prime of manhood, Don
Panyong died of cerebral attack at the age of fifty-seven. Scholars
of the Hispanic world, particularly in the Philippines and Spain,
lamented the loss of the country’s foremost erudite, a literary
genius, and a connoisseur of the Castilian language. The Philippine
government wasted no time in acquiring his reputed collection
when he passed away.
Epifanio de los Santos left an abyss tremendously difficult to fill in
the realm of Philippine Arts and Letters.
Santos, generally known as Don Panyong, was born on the 7th of
April 1871 in Malabon, Rizal. He was the solitary son of Don
Escolastico de los Santos, a prominent haciendero, and Doña
Antonina Cristobal, an educated musician.
At the age of seven, he was tutored by Sr. Jose A. Flores in
Manila. He later enrolled in his father’s Alma Mater, the Ateneo
Municipal. On March 16, 1890, he received the Bachelor of Arts
degree from Ateneo with the highest honors of summa cum laude.
In 1891, he took jurisprudence at the Santo Tomas Law School
where he obtained his Licentiate in Law 1898.
He also studied music and painting. Don Panyong was a gifted
musician. He was a fine pianist and a superb guitarist. During his
time, he was one of the three outstanding guitarists of the
Philippines, the other two being General Fernando Canon, a
revolutionary hero, and Guillermo Tolentino, a distinguished
sculptor. He also possessed a talent for painting, which he,
unfortunately, did not choose to pursue or develop.
Don Panyong married Ursula Paez on April 1899. Her early demise
cut short their marriage but not until she bore him four children.
Their eldest, Jose P. Santos, became a well known historian and
writer in his own right. In 1908, Don Panyong remarried. His
second wife, Margarita Torralba, gave him eight children.
When the 1898 revolution broke out, Don Panyong together with
Jose Zulueta published in Malabon a patriotic newspaper named La
Libertad. The publication was short lived having been censored by
the revolutionary government. He then joined the editorial staff
of Gen. Antonio Luna’s revolutionary paper, La Independencia,
using the pseudonym G. Solon in his articles.
It was early 1900 when he became a District Attorney of San Isidro,
Nueva Ecija, his father’s hometown, and later on became
Provincial Secretary. He was elected Governor of Nueva Ecija in
1902 and was reelected in 1904. That same year, he was appointed
member of the Philippine Commission, representing the country in
the St. Louis Exposition. He became Prosecuting Attorney (Fiscal)
for the provinces of Bulacan and Bataan on March 30, 1906, and
was reappointed as Fiscal for Bulacan only on October 1, 1907.
Governor – General Francis Burton Harrison designated him
Assistant Director of the Philippine Census in 1918.
Don Panyong toured through Europe, visiting the libraries and
museums of England, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Austria
in search of rare valuable works and relics about the Philippines.
The articles gathered from his researches abroad became the
nucleus of the Filipiniana collection in the Philippines. His passion
for acquiring rare books, manuscripts, paintings, opera records,
and antiques as well as old books, historical documents, and other
relics virtually converted his home into a combined art gallery,
museum, and archives. He was a discriminating collector of
uncommon and antique objects that are true landmarks of
Philippine culture. Through his analyses of these, he greatly
enriched the history and literature of our people. He was among
the few who could determine whether a Tagalog word is an
original or an adapted one. He knew the etymology of Tagalog as
well as other dialects like Tingian, Ibilao and Ita.
Don Panyong’s fame as a man of letters was acknowledged,
honored and respected not only in the Philippines but also in
foreign countries. In Europe, he was recognized as a premier
philologist and writer of biographical and historical matters about
the Philippines. He was the first Filipino, of native parentage, to
join and become a member of the Royal Academy of Madrid.
Cecilio Apostol portrayed him as one of the country’s two best
Filipino writers in Spanish prose of all times, the other being
Marcelo H. Del Pilar.
Indisputably, Don Panyong was the best critic, writer and
biographer that the Golden Age of Literature of the Philippines
ever produced. An artist by disposition, he was a scholar in the
truest sense, fascinated and well versed in all branches of human
learning. He was also known as the most authoritative historian
and interpreter of fruitful and transcendental events of the epoch.
He accepted the position of Director of the Philippine Library and
Museum, upon the death of Dr. Pardo H. Tavera on May 16, 1925,
not for the relatively low stipends but because of the honor
attached to the chair. The office was by tradition only for men of
learning and erudition. He held the position until his untimely
death on the 18th of April 1928. In the prime of manhood, Don
Panyong died of cerebral attack at the age of fifty-seven. Scholars
of the Hispanic world, particularly in the Philippines and Spain,
lamented the loss of the country’s foremost erudite, a literary
genius, and a connoisseur of the Castilian language. The Philippine
government wasted no time in acquiring his reputed collection
when he passed away.
Epifanio de los Santos left an abyss tremendously difficult to fill in
the realm of Philippine Arts and Letters.
