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Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro (November 30, 1863 – May 10, 1897) was a Filipino revolutionary leader and the president of the Tagalog Republic. He is often called "The Father of the Philippine Revolution". He was one of the founders and later Supremo (Supreme Leader) of the Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan or more commonly known as the "Katipunan", a movement which sought the independence of the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule and started the Philippine Revolution. He was also one of the Filipino historical figures to be recommended as a national hero of the Philippines.

Education and early life[]

Andres Bonifacio was born on November 30, 1863 in Tondo, Manila, and was the first of six children of Catalina de Castro, a Spanish Mestiza, and Santiago Bonifacio, a Alkalde of Tondo. He learned the alphabet through his mother's sister. He was later enrolled in Guillermo Osmeña's private school, and learned English while employed as a clerk-messenger by a British firm. Some sources assert that he was orphaned at an early age, but, considering the existence of an 1881 record that has Bonifacio's parents listed as living in Tondo, it is disputed by others.

Bonifacio was blessed with good hands in craftsmanship and visual arts that he made canes and paper fans, which he and his young siblings sold. He also made posters for business firms. This became their thriving family business that continued on when the men of the family, namely Andres, Ciriaco, Procopio, and Troadio, were employed with private and government companies, which provided them with decent living conditions.

In his late teens, he worked as a mandatario (agent) for the British trading firm Fleming and Company, where he rose to become a corredor (broker) of tar, rattan and other goods. He later transferred to Fressell and Company, a German trading firm, where he worked as a bodeguero (storehouse keeper) responsible for warehouse inventory. He was also a theater actor and often played the role of Bernardo Carpio, a fictional character in Tagalog folklore.

Not finishing his normal education, Bonifacio enriched his natural intelligence with self-education. He read books about the French Revolution, biographies of the Presidents of the United States, books about contemporary Philippine penal and civil codes, and novels such as Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, Eugène Sue's Le Juif errant and José Rizal's Noli Me Tángere and El Filibusterismo. Aside from Tagalog and Spanish, he could speak and understand English, which he learned while working at J.M. Fleming and Co.

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