Justo Juliano
Filipino poet and advocate for Philippine independence
Born on December 6, 1887, in Manila, PI, he died on Friday, January 28, 1972, in Zephyrhills, Florida.
He studied at the University of Santo Tomas, where he earned his Bachelor's
degree in Literature. He then went on to earn a Master’s degree from Harvard
University, where he studied under Carl Becker and Thomas Sowell
First Filipino to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
His patriotic piece Sursum Corda” is the fi rst known Filipino poem published in English and appeared in the Philippine Free Press in 1907.
Juliano was a teacher at the Paco Intermediate School in Manila and was also the editor of The Filipino Teacher as well as the secretary of the Philippine Teachers’ Association.
Sursum Corda (Lift up your heart)
The poem “Sursum Corda” means lift up your hearts or up hearts in which reexamine the Filipino heart and the meaning of “home”. It shows how the Filipino proudly carried the Philippine flag into battle. This is related to liberal humanism or realism since it depicts based on reality.
In 1907,Justo Juliano’s SURSUM CORDA which appeared in the Renacimiento was the first work to be published in English.