Antonio Mercado Abad (1894-1970) was a poet, fictionist, playwright and essayist from Cebu, Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, who wrote in Spanish when such was the language of the Filipino society. He was educated at the University of San Carlos

University of San Carlos

The University of San Carlos is a Roman Catholic university governed by the Society of the Divine Word since 1935 in Cebu City. It offers pre-elementary and basic education as well as undergraduate and graduate courses, and a broad spectrum of academic programs through its eight colleges.It...

 (formerly the Seminario-Colegio de San Carlos). He was a master of costumbrismo (local color), in a personal form of anecdote known as instantánea or ráfaga

Ráfaga

Ráfaga is one of the most important bands within the Argentine cumbia. Formed in 1994, they started playing in Argentine cumbia clubs and quickly gained popularity....

. He won the Premio Zobel in 1928 and 1929. He was a professor at Far Eastern University

Far Eastern University

Far Eastern University in the University Belt area, West Sampaloc, City of Manila, is a nonsectarian, private university in the Philippines. Created by the merger of Far Eastern College and the Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance, FEU became a university in 1934 under the guidance of...

 and the University of the Philippines

University of the Philippines

The ' is the national university of the Philippines. Founded in 1908 through Act No...

, where he taught Spanish and co-founded the Department of Spanish (now European Languages). His novel La oveja de Nathan is widely discussed in the following article in Spanish, by Professor Manuel Garcia Castellon, from University of New Orleans:
http://members.aol.com/farolan1/revprima.html#
He is the father of literary critic and poet Gémino Abad

Gémino Abad

Gémino Henson Abad is a poet and critic from Cebu, Philippines. His family moved to Manila when his father, Antonio Abad, was offered professorships at Far Eastern University and the University of the Philippines. He earned his B.A. English from the University of the Philippines in 1964 and Ph.D....

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Novels

• El Último Romántico, 1929, Premio Zobel.
• La Oveja de Nathán, 1929, Premio Zobel.
• Dagohoy, 1939, Premio Concurso Literario de la Mancomunidad Filipina.
• El Campeón, 1939, Premio Concurso Literario de la Mancomunidad Filipina.
• La Vida Secreta de Daniel Espeña, 1960 (one of the last Filipino novels written in Spanish).