[2][3] Philippine historians regard López Jaena, along with Marcelo H. del Pilar and José Rizal, as the triumvirate of Filipino propagandists.

Graciano López Jaena was born in Jaro, Iloilo, in the Captaincy General of the Philippines in the Spanish Empire on December 18, 1856.

He was baptized as "Graciano López y Jaena" on December 20, 1856, at Jaro Church by Plácido de Isana, and his godfather was Rufino Justiniano.

[1][4][5] Feeling that the priesthood was the most noble profession, his mother sent him to study at the St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary in Jaro.

While there, he served as a secretary to his uncle, Claudio López, who was the honorary vice consul of Portugal in Iloilo.

After convincing his parents, he sought enrollment at the University of Santo Tomas but was denied admission because the required Bachelor of Arts degree was not offered at the seminary in Jaro.

[citation needed] At the age of 18 he wrote the satirical story Fray Botod, which depicted a fat and lecherous friar.

By this time, he attached his maternal surname permanently to his paternal one, becoming "López Jaena", in order to stick out from the many Lopezes.

Mariano Ponce who was another of the Filipino propagandists in Spain observed, "... a deafening ovation followed the close of the peroration, the ladies waved their kerchiefs wildly, and the men applauded frantically as they stood up from their seats in order to embrace the speaker."