| Wenceslao Retana | |
| Birth Name: | Wenceslao Emilio Retana y Gamboa |
| Birth Date: | 28 September 1862 |
| Birth Place: | Boadilla del Monte, Spain |
| Death Place: | Madrid, Spain |
| Nationality: | Spanish |
| Occupation: | Polymath |
Wenceslao Emilio Retana y Gamboa (28 September 1862 – 21 January 1924), also known as W. E. Retana or Wenceslao E. Retana, was a 19th-century Spanish polymath.
A civil servant, colonial administrator, biographer, political commentator, publisher, bibliographer, and Filipinologist, Retana was a "onetime adversary" of Philippine national hero José Rizal who later became an admirer who wrote the first biographical account of the life of Rizal, entitled Vida y Escritos del Dr. José Rizal (The Life and Writings of Dr. José Rizal).[1] [2] Rosa M. Vallejo described Retana as the "foremost" non-Filipino filipinologist.[3]