Josefina Constantino

Who is Josefina Constantino?

Josefina D. Constantino is a Filipino essayist, literary critic and poet. Formerly a prominent faculty member of the University of the Philippines, she took vows as a member of Carmelite order in 1979. Presently a cloistered nun, she is now known as Sister Teresa Joseph Patrick of Jesus and Mary.

Constantino earned her undergraduate degree at the University of the Philippines, and her Masters in English and comparative literature at Columbia University. She likewise enrolled in special studies at the University of Michigan and University of Edinburgh. She joined the faculty of the College of Arts and Letters of the University of the Philippines, where she taught humanities and contemporary literature for several years. She also held a faculty fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Constantino became known for her published critical literary reviews of such authors as Nick Joaquin. She was likewise a popular professor at the University of the Philippines lauded for her patience and erudition.

In the 1970s, she joined the Development Bank of the Philippines as a special assistant.