Antonio Abad

Who was Antonio Abad?

Antonio Mercado Abad was a poet, fictionist, playwright and essayist from Cebu, Philippines, who wrote in Spanish when such was the language of the Filipino society. He was educated at the University of San Carlos. He was a master of costumbrismo, in a personal form of anecdote known as instantánea or ráfaga. He won the Premio Zobel in 1928 and 1929. He was a professor at Far Eastern University and the University of the Philippines, where he taught Spanish and co-founded the Department of Spanish. His novel La oveja de Nathan is widely discussed in the following article in Spanish, by Professor Manuel Garcia Castellon, from University of New Orleans: http://members.aol.com/farolan1/revprima.html# He is the father of literary critic and poet Gémino Abad.