Nicolas Zafra

Zafra began his career in 1917, as assistant instructor in the department of history of the U.P.

He became full professor and head of the history department in 1948, serving as such for a full ten years. Still head of the history department, he was appointed member of the Social Science Research Center (SSRC) upon its organization under its chairman Dean Tomas Fonacier of the U.P. College of Liberal Arts.

From 1952 to 1953, he was a Fulbright research grantee. In 1955, he was invited by the American Academy of Asian Studies in San Francisco as its visiting professor.

He was a member of the Philippine Historical Association, Philippine National Historical Society, National Research Council of the Philippines, and the International Association Historians of Asia. He was the president of the Philippine Historical Association in 1962.

He also undertook investigations and research into Philippine historical landmarks and personalities, both prominent and obscure, as well as prepared and wrote historical biographies, particularly of the members of the Malolos Congress, and the text of various historical markers. In 1963, the University of the Philippines conferred on him the rare title of professor emeritus of history.

He also received the Cultural Heritage Award, which the Philippine government presented to him in 1969.

Zafra was married to fellow academician Professor Luz Alzona. He had two daughters: Sister Lourdes, a nun, and Felicidad.

• Historicity of Rizal’s Retraction (Bookmark, 1961). In this book, he defended the retraction, and called it "a plain, unadorned fact of history, having all the marks and indications of historical certainty and reality."
• A Short History of the Philippines (1966)
• Philippine History Through Selected Sources (1967)
• Oriental History (co-authored with Ganzon).

• Alfonso, Oscar M. Editor. University of the Philippines The First 75 Years 1908-1983. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1985.
• Fancia, Nancy. “History Without Hesitation: The Birth Centennial of Historian Nicolas Zafra.” Philippine Panorama. December 20, 1992.