25 Facts About Aurora Quezon

Much beloved by Filipinos, Aurora Quezon was known for involvement with humanitarian activities and served as the first chairperson of the Philippine National Red Cross.

Five years after her husband's death, she and her daughter Maria Aurora were assassinated while they were on a route to Baler to open a hospital dedicated to President Quezon.

Aurora Quezon Aragon was born on February 19,1888, to Pedro Aragon and Zenaida Molina in the town of Baler, then in the District of El Principe, a part of the province of Nueva Ecija.

Aurora Quezon's mother was a Filipina mestiza born through a Spanish priest, Father Jose Urbina de Esparragosa, who arrived in Baler from Esparragosa de la Serena, Caceres Province, Spain in 1847 serving as the town's parish priest.

Aurora Quezon is the youngest of the 4 sisters, her older sisters are Maria, called by her siblings Kaka Malaki, Emilia, referred to Kaka Munti, and Amparo, referred to as Kaka Nanis.

Aurora Quezon, who had wanted to become a school teacher, enrolled at the Philippine Normal College in Manila at the expense of her future husband, but had to stop her studies after two years due to her poor health.

In 1907, Manuel Luis Aurora Quezon was elected to the Philippine Assembly.

Still, Aurora Quezon has been described as "a devoted wife and a strict but understanding mother".

Aurora Quezon's career reached its apex in 1935, when he was elected President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.

Aurora Quezon nevertheless was an active First Lady, engaging herself in the campaign to give Filipino women the right of suffrage, which was achieved in 1937.

Aurora Quezon was particularly involved in managing the family's Arayat farm to demonstrate how social justice could be applied to landlord-tenant relationships in an agrarian setting.

Aurora Quezon was involved in the Girl Scouts of the Philippines and the Associacion de Damas Filipinas, a noted orphanage in Manila.

Aurora Quezon was the honorary president of another orphanage, the White Cross, located in San Juan.

President Aurora Quezon was re-elected in November 1941, but his presidency was immediately beset with crisis when Japan invaded the Philippines in the following month.

Aurora Quezon accompanied her husband to Corregidor in December 1941, where the President was sworn in by Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos for his second term on December 30,1941.

Aurora Quezon then moved to California to await their return to the Philippines.

Aurora Quezon was offered a slot in the Liberal Party senatorial slate for the 1946 elections, which she declined.

Aurora Quezon became the first Chairperson of the Philippine National Red Cross, holding the position until her death.

Aurora Quezon was named as honorary vice-president of the Philippine Tuberculosis Society.

Aurora Quezon continued to be involved in civic work, such as the efforts to rebuild the Antipolo Church.

Aurora Quezon received honorary doctorates from the University of Santo Tomas, and from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Aurora Quezon was likewise bestowed the Ozanam Award from the Ateneo de Manila University, and the Pro Ecclessia et Pontifice Cross from Pope Pius XII.

Aurora Quezon had been cautioned about this trip beforehand due to the frequent insurgency activities in Central Luzon of the Hukbalahap, the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

In 1951, Elpidio Quirino created the Aurora sub-province, named in her honor, comprising Baler and surrounding areas in the adjacent Quezon Province.

Manuel and Aurora Quezon are the only spouses to have respective provinces in the Philippines named after them.