Gardeopatra Quijano

Gardeopatra Gador Quijano (April 27, 1918 – May 3, 2003) was a Filipino Visayan dentist, teacher, writer, and fiction author known for her novel, Lourdes, which is regarded as the first feminist novel written in the Cebuano language. She is considered the first Cebuana feminist fiction writer and was awarded the Gawad CCP para sa Sining in 1993.

Early life Quijano was born in Alcantara, Cebu, Philippines on April 27, 1918. She was the eldest daughter of the nine children of Aglipayan bishop and Cebuano writer Juan P. Quijano and Segundina Gador and attended schools in Cebu, Lanao, Manila, and Oroquieta in Misamis Occidental. Former Misamis Occidental governor Gedeon Quijano was her older brother. She became a college teacher and a dentist, whereby people call her the nickname "Doktor or Dok Garding". She settled in Oroquieta for most of her life and remained unmarried.

Writing Quijano was the first feminist fictionist in Cebuano literature She had written two novels and over 150 stories and wrote for periodicals The Freeman, advocating for education for women during the time when many girls did not go to school. In particular in her novel, Lourdes, the first feminist novel written in Cebuano language and which was serialized in Vicente Rama's prewar Cebuano newspaper Bag-ong Kusog from August to September 1939, spoke about women's right of suffrage

Being a single woman was also a theme explored in her published short story, Ang Babaye ug ang Panimalay (The Woman and the Household), which was printed in 1931. Critic Hope Yu commented that for Quijano, "Being unmarried is central to marriage, family and community if the woman's autonomy provides her with the necessary space to do excellent work."

Gawad CCP Para sa Sining She was awarded the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining: Panitikang Rehiyunal (CCP Awards for the Arts for Regional Literature) from the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1993.

Death Quijano died on May 3, 2003. Her short stories are included in an anthology, Nabanhaw nga Himaya (Reawakened Bliss) translated into English by Hope Sabanpan Yu of University of San Carlos' Cebuano Studies Center and Haidee Emmie Palapar of Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.