Lazaro Francisco Elementary School | Lazaro Francisco (1898-1980) MarkerLazaro Francisco Elementary School | Lazaro Francisco (1898-1980) Marker is a Marked Structure, NHCP; Registered Property, Province of Nueva Ecija located at Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, Region III.
Francisco was born on February 22, 1898 to Eulogio Francisco and Clara Angeles, in Orani, Bataan. He spent his childhood years in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. He took his college education at the College (now Central Luzon State University), but was not able to finish due to poverty. He became a messenger of the Provincial Treasurer's Office of Nueva Ecija. Later on, he took third degree civil service examination where he qualified to become an assessor of the provincial government of Nueva Ecija.
He started writing in 1925, with five of his novels took him to fame. Being an assessor in an agricultural province, most of his writings were focused on small farmers and their current conditions with foreign businessmen. This lead him to win separate awards from Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1940 and 1946, for his masterpieces, Singsing na Pangkasal and Tatsulok, respectively.
In 1958, he established the Kapatiran ng mga Alagad ng Wikang Pilipino, roughly translated as "Brotherhood of the Disciples of the Filipino Language", a society that campaigned the use of Tagalog as the national language of the Philippines.
He received other distinguished awards and accolades in literature in his lifetime, including the Balagtas Award (1969), the Republic Cultural Heritage Award (1970) and the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the government of Manila.
In 2009, former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo awarded the National Artist of the Philippines for Literature to Francisco, posthumously, for his significant contribution to Philippine literature.
The National Historical Institute established a marker beside the stage of the West Central School years before he was honored as National Artist for Literature. NHI also prodded the Franciscos to put up a museum at their ancestral home in Barangay Bonifacio in Cabanatuan City.
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Marker Text:
Lazaro Francisco
(1898–1980)
Makabayan, pangunahing nobelista sa Panitikang Pilipino. Isinilang sa Orani, Bataan, Pebrero 22, 1898. Lumaki sa Cabanatuan at nagsulat ng nobela sa bayang ito mula 1925. Mahalagang bahagi ng kanyang panulat ang pakikisangkot sa mga suliraning tumutukoy sa kapakanan ng bansa. Tagapagtatag ng Kapatiran ng mga Alagad ng Wikang Pilipino (KAWIKA), 1958. Tampok sa mga tinanggap niyang gawad: Republic Cultural Heritage Award, 1970; Patnubay ng Kalinangan, Maynila, 1975; Dangal ng Lahi, Lungsod ng Quezon, 1976; Tanglaw ng Lahi, Ateneo de Manila, 1979. Sa kanyang alaala ang Cabanatuan West Central School ay pinangalanan noong 1987 ng "Paaralang Elementaryang Lazaro Francisco." Namatay noong Hunyo 17, 1980.
Year Unveiled: 1990