Wenceslao Retana

Who was Wenceslao Retana?

Wenceslao "Wenchesco" Emilio Retana y Gamboa, also known as W.E. Retana or Wenceslao E. Retana, was a 19th-century Spanish civil servant, colonial administrator, writer, biographer, political commentator, publisher, bibliophile, bibliographer, Filipiniana collector, Spanish filipinologist, and Philippine scholar. Retana was a "onetime adversary" of Philippine national hero José Rizal who later became an "admirer" who wrote the first biographical account of the life of Rizal entitled Vida y Escritos del Dr. José Rizal or "Life and Writings of Dr. José Rizal". Rosa M. Vallejo described Retana as the "foremost" non-Filipino filipinologist.