Severino Reyes


Severino Reyes was a Filipino writer, playwright, and director of plays. He used the pen name Lola Basyang. He was nicknamed "Don Binoy".

Career

Reyes wrote 26 zarzuelas and 22 dramas in his career. He is known as the "Father of Tagalog Plays" and as the "Father of the Tagalog Zarzuela".
Reyes helped found the Liwayway magazine in 1922, and is recognized for pioneering the Tagalog literary renascence during his lifetime. His stories under the pen name Lola Basyang were the magazine's most widely read feature.

Works

Reyes married his childhood friend Maria Paz Puato, and they had 17 children.
He spoke both Tagalog and Spanish, and understood Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and various Philippine dialects.