Napoleon Abueva

Napoleon "Billy" Veloso Abueva (January 26, 1930 – February 16, 2018) was known as the "Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture" Through Proclamation No. 1539.

Abueva graduated in high school at the Rafael Palma College (now the University of Bohol) in 1949.

He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture at the UP School of Fine Arts (now UP College of Fine Arts/UPCFA) in 1953 as one of the second batch of Fine Arts students who moved from the old campus in Padre Faura to Diliman.

He was mentored by fellow National Artist for Sculpture Guillermo Tolentino.

Through scholarship grants, he was able to pursue advanced studies abroad including one from Harvard University.

Recognized as the “Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture”, Abueva helped shape the local sculpture scene to what it is now.

He used almost all kinds of materials for his sculptures such as hard wood, adobe, metal, stainless steel, cement, marble, bronze, iron, alabaster, coral and brass.

Some of his major works include Kaganapan (1953), Kiss of Judas (1955), Thirty Pieces of Silver, The Transfiguration (1979), Eternal Garden Memorial Park, UP Gateway (1967), Nine Muses (1994), UP Faculty Center, Sunburst (1994)-Peninsula Manila Hotel, the bronze figure of Teodoro M. Kalaw in front of National Library, and murals in marble at the National Heroes Shrine, Mt. Samat, Bataan.

His Sandugo or Blood Compact shrine in Barangay Bool, Tagbilaran City is a landmark at the site of the first international treaty of friendship between Spaniards and Filipinos.

He was proclaimed National Artist for Sculpture in 1976 when he was 46, making him the youngest recipient of the award to date.

Billy Abueva, as he was fondly called, was born in Tagbilaran, Bohol, to Teodoro Lloren Abueva, born in Duero, Bohol, a Bohol congressman and Purificación González Veloso, born in Cebu, president of the Women's Auxiliary Service.

Abueva had six other brothers and sisters: Teodoro Jr., Purificacion, José, Amelia Martinez, Teresita Floro, and Antonio.

Born Esabelio Veloso Abueva, he was named after the younger sister of his paternal grandmother, Isabel.

He assumed the name Napoleon at the age of six, when as a student at the St. Joseph Academy in Tagbilaran, one of the nuns first called him Napoleon after Napoleon Bonaparte.

The name stuck, and ever since, Abueva referenced the quote from Napoleon: "If I weren't a conqueror, I would wish to be a sculptor."

He was the first Filipino artist to mount a one-man exhibit at the Philippine Center in New York in 1980.

Most of his bronze works were cast by Franz Herbich,a German Filipino artist based in Cebu Philippines.

His son, Mulawin Abueva, performed the death mask procedure of opposition leader Ninoy Aquino in 1983 while the elder Abueva made the death mask of Fernando Poe, Jr. in 2004.

Both masks are now displayed at the Center for Kapampangan Studies, Holy Angel University, in Angeles Pampanga.

He also made a death mask of Cardinal Sin.

He was married to Cherry Abueva, a psychiatrist, and had three children: Amihan, Mulawin, and Duero.

Before his stroke, he taught at the Industrial Design department of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts.

Abueva was confined at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City for pneumonia from December 31, 2017, until his death on February 16, 2018.

His death was announced by News5 Reporter Maeanne Los Baños on the radio program Balita Alas Singko on Radyo5.

He was 88.

His remains were then brought to his final resting place at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Exhibitions of Napoleon Abueva's work were held in Cebu Plaza (now Marco Polo Plaza, Cebu).