Doctor Antonio de Morga Sánchez Garay (1559, Seville, Spain—July 21, 1636) was a lawyer and a high-ranking colonial official in the Philippines, New Spain and Peru. He was also a historian. He published the book Sucesos de las islas Filipinas in 1609, one of the most important works on the early history of the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. He also led the Spanish in one naval battle against Dutch corsairs in the Philippines, in 1600.
He graduated from the University of Salamanca in 1574 and in 1578 received a doctorate in canon law. He taught briefly in Osuna, and then returned to Salamanca to study civil law. In 1580 he joined the government service. Among other positions in Spain, he held that of auditor general of the galleys.
In 1593 he was sent to Manila as lieutenant governor of the Philippines, the second most powerful position in the colony, after the governor-general. He arrived in Manila on June 11, 1595, from Acapulco, in New Spain. In 1598 he resigned as lieutenant governor to assume the office of oidor, or judge, in the newly re-established Audiencia of Manila.
Morga suffered important failures in both his military and political capacities. The same cannot be said for his work as historian. In 1609, he published the work for which he is now remembered — Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Events in the Philippine Isles). This work, perhaps the best account of Spanish colonialism in the Philippines written during that period, is based partly on documentary research, partly on keen observation, and partly on Morga's personal involvement and knowledge.