History of the Ateneo de Manila
The Ateneo de Manila University (Filipino: "Pamantasang Ateneo de Manila") is a private research university in Quezon City, Philippines. Founded in 1859 by the Society of Jesus, the Ateneo is the third-oldest university in the Philippines.
The founding of the Ateneo de Manila University has its roots in the history of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) as a teaching order. The first Spanish Jesuits in the Philippines, Alonzo Sánchez and Antonio Sedeño, arrived in 1581 as missionaries. They were custodians of the "ratio studiorum", the Jesuit system of education developed around 1559. Within a decade of their arrival, Sedeño and the Jesuits had founded the Colegio de Manila ("Colegio Seminario de San Ignacio") in the historic core of Manila, Intramuros, in 1590. The Colegio formally opened in 1595, the first school in the Philippines.
History of the Ateneo de Manila
American Jesuits replaced their Spanish brethren in 1912. The original campus at Intramuros in the heart of old Manila was destroyed by fire in 1932 and the Ateneo moved to the San Jose Major Seminary grounds in Padre Faura, Ermita. Again during World War II the Ateneo campus was devastated. It reopened temporarily in Plaza Guipit in Sampaloc, Manila. The Padre Faura campus reopened in 1946 with Quonset huts serving as buildings among the campus ruins. In 1952, Fr. William F. Masterson, S.J., moved most of the Ateneo units to its present Loyola Heights campus. The Padre Faura campus continued to house the professional schools until 1976. Fr. Francisco Araneta, S.J., was appointed as the Ateneo de Manila's first Filipino Rector in 1958. In 1959, its centennial year, the Ateneo became a university.