Mother of PHL Folklore Damiana L. Eugenio dies

Author and professor Damiana L. Eugenio, known as the "Mother of Philippine Folklore," passed away on Friday.

 

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Jose Wendell Capili, University of the Philippines assistant vice president for public affairs, said Eugenio's remains lie in state at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish (Claret) Church in Diliman in Quezon City.

 

Interment will be on Wednesday, following a mass at 9 a.m.

 

 

Eugenio, professor emeritus of the UP Department of English and Comparative Literature, was best known for being a "foremost researcher and archivist of our local mythologies," said poet and critic J. Neil Garcia, director of the UP Press.

 

Eugenio was named "Mother of Philippine Folklore" in 1986 by the UP Folklorists, Inc., and the UP Folklore Studies Program, Capili said.

 

She was the author of several works on folklore, including:

 

"Her folklore anthologies are still among UP Press' all-time bestsellers," Garcia said.

 

Her body of works has been cited by the likes of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Manila Critics Circle, the Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng Pilipinas, and the National Research Council of the Philippines.

 

A post on the Filipinas Copyright Licensing Society (FILCOLS) blog in December 2013 said Eugenio, then 93, was bedridden since that year because of a bad fall. —Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/KG, GMA News