Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (March 22, 1869 – February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, politician and military leader who is officially recognized as the first and the youngest President of the Philippines (1899–1901) and first president of a constitutional republic in Asia. He led Philippine forces first against Spain in the latter part of the Philippine Revolution (1896–1898), and then in the Spanish–American War (1898), and finally against the United States during the Philippine–American War (1899–1901).
In 1935, Aguinaldo ran unsuccessfully for president of the Philippine Commonwealth against Manuel Quezon. He was also one of the Filipino historical figures to be recommended as a national hero of the Philippines.
Early Life[]
Emilio Famy Aguinaldo Sr. was born on March 22, 1869 in Cavite el Viejo (present-day Kawit), in Cavite province, to Carlos Jamir Aguinaldo and Trinidad Famy-Aguinaldo, a Tagalog Chinese mestizo couple who had eight children, the seventh of whom was Emilio Sr. The Aguinaldo family was quite well-to-do, as his father, Carlos J. Aguinaldo was the community's appointed gobernadorcillo (municipal governor) in the Spanish colonial administration and his grandparents Eugenio K. Aguinaldo and Maria Jamir-Aguinaldo. He studied at Colegio de San Juan de Letran but wasn't able to finish his studies due to outbreak of cholera in 1882.
Emilio became the "Cabeza de Barangay" in 1895 when the Maura Law that called for the reorganization of local governments was enacted. At the age of 25, Aguinaldo became Cavite el Viejo's first "gobernadorcillo capitan municipal" (Municipal Governor-Captain) while on a business trip in Mindoro.