Carmen Guerrero Nakpil

Carmen Guerrero Nákpil (born Carmen Francisco Guerrero; 19 July 1922 – 30 July 30, 2018) was a Filipina journalist, author, historian and public servant. She was a recipient of the Southeast Asian Writer's Award.

Early life and education Carmen Guerrero was born in Ermita, Manila, on July 19, 1922. Her family were painters and poets, as well as scientists and doctors.

Her parents were the prominent doctor Alfredo Guerrero and Filomena Francisco, who was celebrated as one of the Philippines' first female pharmacists.

Her maternal grandfather was Gabriel Beato Francisco, a Tagalog writer, journalist, novelist, playwright. Francisco's contribution to the development of Tagalog literature lies in the novel.

She studied at St. Theresa's College, Manila and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1942. After being widowed in World War II she took a job as a proofreader before working her way up to be an editor and columnist. She was the only woman with a column in the Manila Chronicle, where she acquired the nickname "Chitang". The column ran for twelve years In 1966 she left the Chronicle for the Sunday Times Magazine of The Manila Times, where she had a weekly column called 'Consensus of One'.

Selected works Nonfiction Woman Enough: and Other Essays (1963) Question of Identity (1973) The Philippines and the Filipino (1977) The Philippines - The Land and the People (1989) Heroes and Villains (2010)

Autobiographical trilogy Myself, Elsewhere (2006) Legends and Adventures (2007) Exeunt (2009)

Fiction The Rice Conspiracy: A Novel (1990)

Personal life Guerrero first married Ismaél A. Cruz in August 1942. They had two children, Gemma Cruz-Araneta and Ismaél G. Cruz, before Ismaél was killed in 1945.

In 1950, she married architect and city planner Ángel E. Nákpil. She had three more children (Ramón, Lisa, and Luis), and gained two step-daughters (Nina Nákpil-Campos and Carmina Nákpil-Dualan)

Her brothers included lawyer and diplomat León María Guerrero III, and Mario X. Guerrero, who was one of the country's first foreign-trained cardiologists.

In 2024, her daughter Lisa took on her mother's previous role as Chair of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.

Death Guerrero-Nákpil died on 30 July 2018, of pneumonia, at the age of 96. She was laid to rest at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina, following a wake on 31 July and a funeral mass on 2 August.