Sofia de Veyra

Sofia Reyes was born in Arevalo, Iloilo City, the daughter of Santiago Reyes and Eulalia Tiaozon.

Sofia Reyes de Veyra historical marker

Sofia Reyes taught English as a young woman. She co-founded a nurses' training school at Iloilo City in 1907 with an American woman, Mary E. Coleman.[1] In 1917, she moved to Washington D. C. as a diplomat's wife, and while there gave lectures and was otherwise active in women's clubs. She wrote essays that were published in newspapers around the United States.[2] In 1922 she was the Philippines' delegate to the Pan-Pacific conference held in Baltimore.[3] She met with first lady Florence Harding, and received a certificate of appreciation from the American Red Cross for her contributions during World War I.[4] Sofia de Veyra was also noted for wearing the distinctive Philippine terno formal dress to events and while giving public speeches in the United States.[5]

Back in the Philippines by 1925, she founded the Manila Women's Club. In time she became president of the National Federation of Women's Clubs, and used her position to advocate for women's suffrage in the Philippines.[6] She was also appointed head of the domestic science department at Centro Escolar de Señoritas, a girls' school.[1] She also co-wrote a cookbook that was published in both English and Spanish, Everyday Cookery for the Home (1930, 1934).[7][8]

Sofia Reyes married politician Jaime Carlos de Veyra in 1907. They had four children.[9] Their son Manuel E. de Veyra was a doctor during World War II serving at Bataan.[10] Their son Jesus de Veyra became a judge, and dean of the Ateneo Law School from 1976 to 1981.[11]

Sofia Reyes de Veyra died in 1953, aged 77 years. Her daughter-in-law wrote a biography, Faith, Work, Success: An Appraisal of the Life and Work of Sofia Reyes de Veyra, in 1959.[12] There is a historical marker honoring de Veyra's work in her home district in the Western Visayas region.[13]