Melchora Aquino
Revolutionary Servant & Nurse Entrepreneur
This story was written by previously profiled nurse Dr. Rhonda Sullivan
Melchora Aquino was a Philippine heroine, commonly referred to as “Mother of the Philippine Revolution.” She was born Melchora Aquino de Ramos on January 6, 1812. Although she never attended school, she was highly intelligent, even at an early age. Following the death of her husband, she used her prudence and tenacity to open a store, as a means of supporting her six children. In 1896, when Aquino was 84 years old, the Philippine revolution began. Her store served as a make-shift hospital where she provided medical care for sick or wounded revolutionists. She also provided food, shelter, encouragement, and prayers for the soldiers, even hosting 1,000 men in her home’s yard during the Cry of Balintawak. Although she was not a member of the Katipunan, her home became one of the headquarters of the secret order. These heroics earned her the name, “Mother of Katipunan”, which is the Philippine word for revolution. She also became known to many of the Philippine revolutionary soldiers as Tandang Sora, an acknowledgement of her wisdom and seniority and is considered a counterpart to British nurse Florence Nightingale.
When the Spaniards learned that Aquino was providing medical care and encouragement to their enemies, they arrested her. When she refused to provide information to the Spaniards, she was deported to the Mariana Islands until 1898, where she remained in exile for seven years. When the U.S. took control of the Philippines, Aquino was permitted to return to her home and store, where she lived until her death on March 2, 1919. She was 107 years old. Following her death, her contributions were memorialized in several ways including a district and city road in Quezon City named in her honor and her image was added to a 100-peso bill.
Further Reading:
To learn more about the role of war and nursing, or colonization and the Philippines, read our supplemental guide here.
Learn about the Philippine Nurse Association of America here.
Honor the Philippine healthcare workers who have died in the pandemic here.
To support Asian Americans for Equality, click here.
Sources
We sourced the above information from Bayani Art, Esquire, Biography, Encyclopedia, and Military sources.
Learn More
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Know Your History
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- American Association for the History of Nursing to attend monthly webinars on topics of nursing history, view the calendar here.
Examine Bias
- NurseManifest to attend live zoom sessions with fellow nurses on nursing’s overdue reckoning on racism or to sign their pledge.
- Breaking Bias in Healthcare, an online course created by scientist Anu Gupta, to learn how bias is related to our brain’s neurobiology and can be mitigated with mindfulness.
- Revolutionary Love Learning Hub provides free tools for learners and educators to use love as fuel towards ourselves, our opponents, and to others so that we can embody a world where we see no strangers.
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