He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Real Colegio Alfonso XII in El Escorial, Spain.
Her funerary plaque and remains are still buried in the left inner wall of the ancient San Agustin Church of Intramuros, to this day.
They were married on November 12, 1911, and had four children – Matilde (wife of Luis Albarracin Segura of Madrid), Consuelo (wife of 3-star American general James Dyce Alger of Hawaii), Gloria (wife of Ricardo Padilla Satrustegui of Sintra, Portugal and Barcelona, Spain and who held interests in the Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas, Guell Park and Hacienda Luisita, as well as endowing the Comillas Pontifical University), and the great modernist painter Fernando (and namesake of his brother, Fernando Antonio).
His mansion on Plaza del Carmen and Leon Guerrero Street in Ermita, Manila became the focal point of many tertulias and salon de artistas.
Premio Zóbel was the fulfillment of his desire that "No quiero que el español muera en Filipinas".
Together with brother Fernando Antonio, he co-founded Casino Español de Manila, a socio-civic club for Hispano-Filipinos.
He established the Patronato Escolar Español and the Asociación Pro-Idioma Hispano, both efforts directed at strengthening the role of Spanish in the educational system.
In 1930, he helped fund the construction of the Manila Metropolitan Theater, a landmark Art Deco building designed by Juan Arellano.
In 1936, he reported the discovery of a horde of Oriental pottery found on his Calatagan, Batangas property to the National Museum director Eduardo Quisumbing and subsequently funded the ensuing excavations.