Antonio Luna was born in Urbiztondo Street, Binondo, Manila on October 29, 1866 to Don

Joaquin Luna and Doa Laureana Novicio, a prominent and rich couple from Ilocos Norte. His
older brother was Juan Luna, the famous painter.
He was enrolled in the Ateneo de Manila University where he took up literature and chemistry.
He graduated with highest honors, obtaining his bachelor of arts from Ateneo in 1881. He then
enrolled in the University of Santo Tomas where his paper entitled "Dos cuerpos fundamentales
de quimica" was awarded first place. At the invitation of his brother, he went to Spain where he
studied pharmacy in Barcelona and medicine in Madrid. He obtained his Licentiate in Pharmacy
at the University of Barcelona and Licentiate in Pharmacy at the Central University of Madrid.
In Madrid, he started writing in La Solidaridad, the organ of the Propaganda Movement in Spain
seeking reforms to alleviate conditions in the Philippines. One particular article he wrote for La
Solidaridad, entitled "Impresiones," ridiculed the Spaniards in the Philippines. Writing under the
pen name Taga-ilog he also contributed articles and technical papers to European scientific
journals and magazines. He wrote the famous article entitled "El hematozoario paludismo"
which was acclaimed by the European scientific community.
Antonio Luna was well-traveled: he toured Europe, meeting prominent bacteriologists, chemists,
and pharmacists. Aside from these interests, Antonio Luna was also a master fencer, skilled
sharpshooter, avid musician, and a military strategist.

In Madrid, the Filipino community there knew that Antonio Luna had a fiery temper and was
prone to react violently. When a newspaper editor named Mir Deas uttered insults against Luna,
Luna renamed the editor Mier Das (Spanish foul language), challenged him to a duel and on
being rejected, spat in his face. Whenever there was a quarrel that involved the Luna brothers,
Rizal would dismiss them as "cosas de los Lunas."
In May 1894, through a commission by the Spanish government, Antonio Luna returned to the
Philippines to study native contagious diseases. He was also appointed as a chemist in Manila,
besting notable Filipinos such as Leon Ma. Guerrero and Antonio Casanovas. As the municipal
chemist, Luna was instrumental in the analysis of the Sibul mineral waters. In 1898, he became
the municipal laboratory director.
Rizal asked Luna to join the Katipunan to serve as liason between the masses and the rich; but
Luna refused, stating that a revolution was premature. When the Katipunan was finally
discovered by the Spanish authorities, Luna was imprisoned and tortured. The Spanish
authorities made false claims that his friends had implicated him in the Katipunan revolution as
one of its prominent members. Weakened by mental and physical torture, Luna decided to reveal
all that he knew about the Katipunan. He denounced the Katipunan and revealed the names of his
friends who were members of the secret society. In return for his cooperation, he was exiled to
Spain in 1897 and was locked up in Madrid Prison. He was later released through the assistance
of a government official.
While the revolution raged in the Philippines, Antonio Luna was in Madrid and different parts of
Europe. While traveling Europe, he studied military tactics, strategy, field fortifications, and
artillery. He studied military tactics under Belgian general Gerard Leman.
Mascardo for additional reinforcement. Mascardo not only ignored the orders but instead
attended the town fiesta of Arayat. Luna, in a fit of rage, left the battlefront to confront the
mutinous general. In his absence, Bagbag fell into American hands.
With the fall of Bagbag and other neighboring towns, Central and Northern Luzon were open for
the Americans to occupy. Luna directed his subordinates to turn Mountain Province into a
guerrilla fortress against the Americans. He believed that although the Americans could never be
defeated in a setpiece battle, guerrilla warfare could be effective against them. Luna argued that
because of American deaths and military expenditures, the American public would be forced to
stop their government from continuing the war. To achieve this aim, prisoners were told to plant
camote and other food crops in Mountain Province, church bells were requisitioned, melted and
used as bullets, rice harvests were commandeered in several Pangasinan towns, and officers
surveyed the areas around Mountain Province.
Individuals angry with Luna perceived these preparations as a plan to seize the government from
Aguinaldo. Suspicions were also aroused when men close to Aguinaldo saw Luna's tight hold on
the army that he personally commanded. They were also afraid of Luna's insistence on the
establishment of a dictatorial government composed of his chosen men. Because of this temper
and stubbornness, certain individuals conspired to eliminate the general.

After the fall of Bagbag and Central Luzon to American hands, Luna transferred his staff to
Pangasinan and established the Department of War in the town of Bayambang. On 4 June 1899,
Luna received a telegram from Aguinaldo directing him to proceed to Cabanatuan to confer with
the Aguinaldo government. With the receipt of the telegram, Luna, his aides and 25 cavalry
soldiers departed for Cabanatuan. Upon reaching a destroyed bridge near the town proper of
Cabanatuan on 5 June 1899, Luna entered the town accompanied by Col. Francisco Roman and
Capt. Eduardo Rusca, leaving behind them their escort.
When he entered the church convent and saw a soldier outside whom he had degraded for
cowardice in Angeles, Luna shouted at him and demanded to know who reinstated him. The
soldier replied that the men upstairs had restored him to his previous position. The volatile Luna,
his fist clenched, then hit a soldier that did not salute him. Upon entering the room of the convent
house, he met Felipe Buencamino and started to argue with him when a rifle shot was heard
outside. He was confronted by Captain Janolino of the Kawit Companies and was then hacked in
the head, shot, and stabbed by the Kawit Companies members. Bleeding from his wounds,
General Luna rapidly managed to draw his revolver and fire several shots at his attackers while
shouting "Cowards! Traitors! Assassins!"
When Roman and Rusca saw their general being attacked, they immediately ran to aid him.
Roman ran across the street but was gunned down while Rusca, shot in the leg, was saved when
he hid in the church.
Buencamino emerged, emptied Luna's pockets and took the telegram that Luna received. Luna
was then buried in the clothes that he had on when he died.
After the death of Antonio Luna, his staff and sympathizers were eliminated. Officers who
served under Luna were arrested, removed from the army or assassinated. Maj. Manuel Bernal
was arrested, tortured, and killed while his brother Capt. Jose Bernal was arrested, released, then
assassinated in the battlefield. No trial or punishment was carried out against the assassins and
plotters in the murder of General Antonio Luna.