Wenceslao Retana
Wenceslao Retana | |
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 Retana circa 1901
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| Born |
Wenceslao Emilio Retana y Gamboa
September 28, 1862
Boadilla del Monte, Spain
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| Died | January 21, 1924 (aged 61)
Madrid, Spain
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| Nationality | Spanish |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | |
Wenceslao "Wenchesco" Emilio Retana y Gamboa (September 28, 1862 – January 21, 1924), also known as W.E. Retana or Wenceslao E. Retana, was a 19th-century Spanish polymath.
He was a 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.