León María Guerrero

León María Guerrero y Leogardo was a Filipino writer, revolutionary leader, politician, the first licensed pharmacist in the Philippines, and one of the most eminent botanists in the country in his time.

León María was one of the 14 children of León Jorge Guerrero and Clara Leogardo. He was born on January 21, 1853 in Ermita, Manila. His brother, Lorenzo, became a painter and a teacher of Juan Luna. He painted the altar of the San Sebastian Church in Quiapo, Manila. León Jorge was the uncle of poet-politician, Fernando María Guerrero, who won a seat at the Philippine Assembly in 1907. He is the grandfather of diplomat León María Guerrero III (his namesake) and pre-eminent writer Carmen Guerrero Nakpil.

Being a scion of one of the most prominent families of Manila during the last years of Spanish colonial period, he was among the first students of the Ateneo de Manila University when it was founded in 1859 and known as the Ateneo Municipal de Manila. After completing his primary and secondary education, he enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas, where he graduated in 1875 with a degree Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy, specializing in Botany and Zoology. The following year, he was licensed to practice Pharmacy.

Guerrero was appointed head of the military pharmacy in Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur and at the marine hospital in Kawit, Cavite. Later, he would manage the popular Binondo Pharmacy in Manila.

His scientific curiosity led him to study the therapeutic uses of Philippine plants, from which he extracted pharmacological ingredients.

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