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José Rizal

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  • My Hero - Biography of Jose Rizal
  • CORE - Jose Rizal in Filipino Literature and History
  • Philippine Folklife Museum Foundation - José Rizal
  • National Library Board Singapore - Singapore Infopedia - José Rizal
  • GlobalSecurity.org - José Rizal and the Propaganda Movement
  • Library of Congress - Biography of José Rizal
  • José Rizal - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
  • Who was José Rizal and what were his major contributions to Filipino history?
  • What were José Rizal's most famous literary works and what themes did they explore?
  • How did José Rizal's writings influence the Philippine independence movement?
  • What were the key events that led to José Rizal's execution, and how did it impact the Filipino people?
  • How is José Rizal remembered and honored in the Philippines today?
  • What were José Rizal's views on education and social reform in the Philippines?
  • How did José Rizal's travels in Europe influence his perspective on Filipino society?
  • What was José Rizal's role in the formation of La Liga Filipina, and what were the organization's goals?
  • How did José Rizal's family background shape his political and social views?
  • How has José Rizal's legacy influenced modern Filipino literature and culture?

José Rizal (born June 19, 1861, Calamba, Philippines—died December 30, 1896, Manila) was a patriot, physician, and man of letters who was an inspiration to the Philippine nationalist movement.

The son of a prosperous landowner, Rizal was educated in Manila and at the University of Madrid . A brilliant medical student, he soon committed himself to the reform of Spanish rule in his home country , though he never advocated Philippine independence. Most of his writing was done in Europe, where he resided between 1882 and 1892.

In 1887 Rizal published his first novel , Noli me tangere ( The Social Cancer ), a passionate exposure of the evils of Spanish rule in the Philippines . A sequel, El filibusterismo (1891; The Reign of Greed ), established his reputation as the leading spokesman of the Philippine reform movement. He published an annotated edition (1890; reprinted 1958) of Antonio Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, hoping to show that the native people of the Philippines had a long history before the coming of the Spaniards. He became the leader of the Propaganda Movement , contributing numerous articles to its newspaper, La Solidaridad , published in Barcelona . Rizal’s political program included integration of the Philippines as a province of Spain, representation in the Cortes (the Spanish parliament), the replacement of Spanish friars by Filipino priests, freedom of assembly and expression, and equality of Filipinos and Spaniards before the law.

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Rizal returned to the Philippines in 1892. He founded a nonviolent-reform society, the Liga Filipina , in Manila, and was deported to Dapitan in northwest Mindanao . He remained in exile for the next four years. In 1896 the Katipunan , a Filipino nationalist secret society , revolted against Spain. Although he had no connections with that organization and he had had no part in the insurrection, Rizal was arrested and tried for sedition by the military. Found guilty, he was publicly executed by a firing squad in Manila. His martyrdom convinced Filipinos that there was no alternative to independence from Spain. On the eve of his execution, while confined in Fort Santiago, Rizal wrote “ Último adiós” (“Last Farewell”), a masterpiece of 19th-century Spanish verse.

Jose Rizal Biography

Birthday: June 19 , 1861 ( Gemini )

Born In: Calamba, Laguna

Hailed as the greatest national hero of the Philippines, Jose Rizal was a man of strong convictions who sacrificed his life for the nationalist cause. During his time Philippines was under Spanish colonial rule and Rizal advocated for peaceful reforms in his home country. Rizal was not just a nationalist, he was a multifaceted personality who was a qualified doctor, writer, and an artist who could draw, paint, sculpt and carve. He was a prolific writer and poet who through his eloquent writings inspired the nationalists for peaceful reforms as well as armed conflicts where the need arose. Born into a family which valued education, he was encouraged to study well and gain knowledge about a variety of subjects. Even as a youngster he was known to harbor thoughts of political freedom and individual rights which were considered radical by the authorities who frowned upon him. A well traveled man, he became involved in the Propaganda Movement where he joined other Filipinos who wanted reforms. He also wrote about the dark aspects of Spanish rule in a book which was banned in Philippines. Even though he was a supporter of peaceful reforms, he was exiled from his home country, and later on convicted of sedition and sentenced to death. The execution of this young nationalist fuelled the Filipinos’ desire for independence further.

Jose Rizal

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Also Known As: Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda

Died At Age: 35

Spouse/Ex-: Josephine Bracken

father: Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado de Alejandro

mother: Teodora Morales Alonzo Realonda de Quintos

siblings: Concepción, José Protasio, Josefa, Lucia, Maria, Narcisa, Paciano Rizal, Saturina, Soledad, Trinidad

children: Francísco Rizal y Bracken

Born Country: Philippines

Revolutionaries Filipino Men

Died on: December 30 , 1896

place of death: Bagumbayan, Manila[

Cause of Death: Execution

Founder/Co-Founder: La Liga Filipina

education: University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Ateneo de Manila University, University of Paris, Complutense University of Madrid, Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, University of Santo Tomas

awards: - FAMAS Awards for Best Story category for Gerardo de León's adaptation of his book Noli Me Tángere

You wanted to know

Why is jose rizal considered a national hero in the philippines.

Jose Rizal is considered a national hero in the Philippines because of his significant role in the country's fight for independence from Spanish colonial rule. He was a prominent figure in the Philippine Revolution and used his writings to inspire and mobilize Filipinos to stand up against oppressive colonial forces.

What were Jose Rizal's major contributions to Philippine society and history?

Jose Rizal made major contributions to Philippine society and history through his literary works, which exposed the injustices and abuses of the Spanish colonial government. His novels, such as "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo," sparked nationalistic sentiments and paved the way for the Philippine Revolution.

How did Jose Rizal's ideas and writings influence the Philippine Revolution?

Jose Rizal's ideas and writings greatly influenced the Philippine Revolution by awakening the national consciousness of Filipinos and inspiring them to fight for their rights and freedom. His works challenged the status quo and encouraged Filipinos to resist colonial oppression and work towards independence.

What was Jose Rizal's stance on education and reform in the Philippines?

Jose Rizal advocated for education and reform in the Philippines as a means to uplift the country and its people. He believed that education was key to national progress and emphasized the importance of critical thinking, civic responsibility, and cultural pride in shaping a better future for the nation.

How did Jose Rizal's martyrdom impact the course of Philippine history?

Jose Rizal's martyrdom, through his execution by the Spanish authorities, further fueled the flames of revolution in the Philippines. His death served as a rallying cry for Filipinos to continue the fight for independence and galvanized the movement towards nationhood and self-determination.

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Jose Rizal was a talented artist and was skilled in sculpting, painting, and sketching. He even used his artistic abilities to create political cartoons that criticized the Spanish colonial government.

Rizal was a polyglot, proficient in several languages, including Spanish, English, French, German, and Chinese. This linguistic talent allowed him to communicate with people from various backgrounds and cultures.

Rizal was an advocate for women's rights and believed in gender equality. He supported women's education and empowerment, and his writings reflected his progressive views on gender roles in society.

Rizal was an accomplished fencer and marksman. He excelled in these sports and even won various fencing competitions during his time in Europe.

See the events in life of Jose Rizal in Chronological Order

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Life in Europe

Novels and other writing, program of reforms, exile and courtship, trial and execution.

  • Ph.D., History, Boston University
  • J.D., University of Washington School of Law
  • B.A., History, Western Washington University

José Rizal (June 19, 1861–December 30, 1896) was a man of intellectual power and artistic talent whom Filipinos honor as their national hero. He excelled at anything that he put his mind to: medicine, poetry, sketching, architecture, sociology, and more. Despite little evidence, he was martyred by Spanish colonial authorities on charges of conspiracy, sedition, and rebellion when he was only 35.

Fast Facts: José Rizal

  • Known For : National hero of the Philippines for his key role inspiring the Philippine Revolution against colonial Spain
  • Also Known As: José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda
  • Born : June 19, 1861, at Calamba, Laguna
  • Parents : Francisco Rizal Mercado and Teodora Alonzo y Quintos
  • Died : December 30, 1896, in Manila, the Philippines
  • Education : Ateneo Municipal de Manila; studied medicine at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila; medicine and philosophy at the Universidad Central de Madrid; ophthalmology at the University of Paris and the University of Heidelberg
  • Published Works : Noli Me Tangere, El Filibusterismo
  • Spouse : Josephine Bracken (married two hours before his death)
  • Notable Quote: "On this battlefield man has no better weapon than his intelligence, no other force but his heart."

José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was born on June 19, 1861, at Calamba, Laguna, the seventh child of Francisco Rizal Mercado and Teodora Alonzo y Quintos. The family were wealthy farmers who rented land from the Dominican religious order. Descendants of a Chinese immigrant named Domingo Lam-co, they changed their name to Mercado ("market") under the pressure of anti-Chinese feeling among the Spanish colonizers.

From an early age, Rizal showed a precocious intellect. He learned the alphabet from his mother at the age of 3 and could read and write at age 5.

Rizal attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, graduating at age 16 with the highest honors. He took a post-graduate course there in land surveying.

Rizal completed his surveyor's training in 1877 and passed the licensing exam in May 1878, but he could not receive a license to practice because he was only 17. He was granted a license in 1881 when he reached the age of majority.

In 1878, the young man enrolled in the University of Santo Tomas as a medical student. He later quit the school, alleging discrimination against Filipino students by the Dominican professors.

In May 1882, Rizal got on a ship to Spain without informing his parents. He enrolled at the Universidad Central de Madrid after arriving. In June 1884, he received his medical degree at the age of 23; the following year, he graduated from the Philosophy and Letters department.

Inspired by his mother's advancing blindness, Rizal next went to the University of Paris and then to the University of Heidelberg for further study in ophthalmology. At Heidelberg, he studied under the famed professor Otto Becker (1828–1890). Rizal finished his second doctorate at Heidelberg in 1887.

Rizal lived in Europe for 10 years and picked up a number of languages. He could converse in more than 10 different tongues. While in Europe, the young Filipino impressed everyone he met with his charm, intelligence, and mastery of a range of different fields of study. Rizal excelled at martial arts, fencing, sculpture, painting, teaching, anthropology , and journalism, among other areas.

During his European sojourn, he also began to write novels. Rizal finished his first book, " Noli Me Tangere " (Latin for "Touch Me Not"), while living in Wilhelmsfeld, Germany, with the Rev. Karl Ullmer.

Rizal wrote "Noli Me Tangere" in Spanish; it was published in 1887 in Berlin, Germany. The novel is a scathing indictment of the Catholic Church and Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines, and its publication cemented Rizal's position on the Spanish colonial government's list of troublemakers. When Rizal returned home for a visit, he received a summons from the governor-general and had to defend himself against charges of disseminating subversive ideas.

Although the Spanish governor accepted Rizal's explanations, the Catholic Church was less willing to forgive. In 1891, Rizal published a sequel, titled " El Filibusterismo ." When published in English, it was titled "The Reign of Greed."

In his novels and newspaper editorials, Rizal called for a number of reforms of the Spanish colonial system in the Philippines. He advocated freedom of speech and assembly, equal rights before the law for Filipinos, and Filipino priests in place of the often-corrupt Spanish churchmen. In addition, Rizal called for the Philippines to become a province of Spain, with representation in the Spanish legislature, the Cortes Generales .

Rizal never called for independence for the Philippines. Nonetheless, the colonial government considered him a dangerous radical and declared him an enemy of the state.

In 1892, Rizal returned to the Philippines. He was almost immediately accused of being involved in the brewing rebellion and was exiled to Dapitan City, on the island of Mindanao. Rizal would stay there for four years, teaching school and encouraging agricultural reforms.

During that period, the people of the Philippines grew more eager to revolt against the Spanish colonial presence. Inspired in part by Rizal's progressive organization La Liga , rebel leaders such as Andres Bonifacio (1863–1897) began to press for military action against the Spanish regime.

In Dapitan, Rizal met and fell in love with Josephine Bracken, who brought her stepfather to him for a cataract operation. The couple applied for a marriage license but were denied by the Church, which had excommunicated Rizal.

The Philippine Revolution broke out in 1896. Rizal denounced the violence and received permission to travel to Cuba to tend to victims of yellow fever in exchange for his freedom. Bonifacio and two associates sneaked aboard the ship to Cuba before it left the Philippines and tried to convince Rizal to escape with them, but Rizal refused.

He was arrested by the Spanish on the way, taken to Barcelona, and then extradited to Manila for trial. Rizal was tried by court-martial and charged with conspiracy, sedition, and rebellion. Despite a lack of evidence of his complicity in the Revolution, Rizal was convicted on all counts and given a death sentence.

He was allowed to marry Bracken two hours before his execution by firing squad in Manila on December 30, 1896. Rizal was just 35 years old.

José Rizal is remembered today throughout the Philippines for his brilliance, courage, peaceful resistance to tyranny, and compassion. Filipino schoolchildren study his final literary work, a poem called " Mi Ultimo Adios " ("My Last Goodbye"), and his two famous novels.

Spurred by Rizal's martyrdom, the Philippine Revolution continued until 1898. With assistance from the United States, the Philippine archipelago defeated the Spanish army. The Philippines declared independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, becoming the first democratic republic in Asia.

  • de Ocampo, Estaban A. " Dr. Jose Rizal, Father of Filipino Nationalism ." Journal of Southeast Asian History .
  • Rizal, José. "One Hundred Letters of José Rizal." Philippine National Historical Society.
  • Valenzuela, Maria Theresa. " Constructing National Heroes: Postcolonial Philippine and Cuban Biographies of José Rizal and José Martí ." Biography .
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José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda

A photo of José Rizal, National hero of the Philippines.
Alternate name(s): José Rizal
Date of birth: June 19, 1861
Place of birth: Calamba, Laguna,
Date of death: December 30 1896 (aged 35)
Place of death: Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park), ,
Major organizations: La Solidaridad, La Liga Filipina
Major monuments: Rizal Park

José P. Rizal (full name: José Prota [1] Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda ) (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino polymath , nationalist and the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is considered the Philippines' national hero and the anniversary of Rizal's death is commemorated as a Philippine holiday called Rizal Day. Rizal's 1896 military trial and execution made him a martyr of the Philippine Revolution.

The seventh of eleven children born to a wealthy family in the town of Calamba, Laguna (province), Rizal attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree sobresaliente. He enrolled in Medicine and Philosophy and Letters at the University of Santo Tomas and then traveled alone to Madrid , Spain, where he continued his studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid, earning the degree of Licentiate in Medicine. He attended the University of Paris and earned a second doctorate at the University of Heidelberg.

  • 2 Education
  • 4 Exile in Dapitan
  • 5 Last days
  • 6 Execution
  • 7.1 'Retraction' controversy
  • 7.2 "Mi último adiós"
  • 7.3 Josephine Bracken
  • 8 Criticism
  • 11 References
  • 12 External links

He was known as a hero, author, and an eye doctor. As a political figure, Rizal was the founder of La Liga Filipina, a civic organization that subsequently gave birth to the Katipunan led by Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo . He was a proponent of institutional reforms by peaceful means rather than by violent revolution. The general consensus among Rizal scholars, however, attributed his martyred death as the catalyst that precipitated the Philippine Revolution.

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José Rizal's parents, Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y Alejandra II (1818-1898) and Teodora Morales Alonso Realonda y Quintos (1827-1911), [2] were prosperous farmers who were granted lease of a hacienda and an accompanying rice farm by the Dominicans. Rizal was the seventh child of their eleven children namely: Saturnina (1850-1913), Paciano (1851-1930), Narcisa (1852-1939), Olympia (1855-1887), Lucia (1857-1919), Maria (1859-1945), José Protasio (1861-1896), Concepcion (1862-1865), Josefa (1865-1945), Trinidad (1868-1951) and Soledad (1870-1929).

Rizal was a sixth-generation patrilineal descendant of Domingo Lam-co (Chinese: 柯仪南 ; pinyin : Ke Yinan ), a Chinese immigrant entrepreneur who sailed to the Philippines from Jinjiang, Quanzhou in the mid-seventeenth century. [2] Lam-co married Inez de la Rosa, a Sangley native of Luzon. To free his descendants from the anti-Chinese animosity of the Spanish authorities, Lam-co changed the family surname to the Spanish surname "Mercado" ("market") to indicate their Chinese merchant roots. In 1849, Governor-General Narciso Claveria ordered all Filipino families to choose new surnames from a list of Spanish family names. José's father Francisco adopted the surname "Rizal" (originally Ricial , "the green of young growth" or "green fields"). [2] However, the name change caused confusion in the business affairs of Francisco, most of which were begun under the old name. After a few years, he settled on the name "Rizal Mercado" as a compromise, but usually just used the original surname "Mercado."

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Upon enrolling at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, José dropped the last three names that make up his full name, at the advice of his brother, Paciano Rizal Mercado, and the Rizal Mercado family, thus rendering his name as "José Protasio Rizal." Of this, Rizal wrote: "My family never paid much attention [to our second surname Rizal], but now I had to use it, thus giving me the appearance of an illegitimate child!" [3] This was to enable him to travel freely and disassociate him from his brother, who had gained notoriety with his earlier links with Filipino priests who were sentenced to death as subversives. From early childhood, José and Paciano were already advancing unheard-of political ideas of freedom and individual rights which infuriated the authorities. At age 8 (in 1869) he wrote his first poem Sa aking mga Kabata and had for its theme the love of one's native language. [4] Despite the name change, Jose, as "Rizal" soon distinguished himself in poetry writing contests, impressing his professors with his facility with Castilian and other foreign languages, and later, in writing essays that were critical of the Spanish historical accounts of the pre-colonial Philippine societies. Indeed, by 1891, the year he finished his El Filibusterismo, this second surname had become so well known that, as he wrote to another friend, "All my family now carry the name Rizal instead of Mercado because the name Rizal means persecution! Good! I too want to join them and be worthy of this family name." [3] José became the focal point by which the family became known, at least from the point of view of colonial authorities.

Aside from indigenous Filipino and Chinese ancestry, recent genealogical research has found that José had traces of Spanish, and Japanese ancestry. His maternal great-great-grandfather (Teodora's great-grandfather) was Eugenio Ursua, a descendant of Japanese settlers, who married a Filipina named Benigna (surname unknown). They gave birth to Regina Ursua who married a Sangley mestizo from Pangasinán named Atty. Manuel de Quintos, Teodora's grandfather. Their daughter Brígida de Quintos married a Spanish mestizo named Lorenzo Alberto Alonso, the father of Teodora. Austin Craig mentions Lakandula, Rajah of Tondo at the time of the Spanish incursion, also as an ancestor.

Rizal first studied under the tutelage of Justiniano Aquino Cruz in Biñan, Laguna. He was sent to Manila and enrolled at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila. He graduated as one of the nine students in his class declared sobresaliente or outstanding. He continued his education at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila to obtain a land surveyor and assessor's degree, and at the same time at the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Arts and Letters where he studied Philosophy and Letters. Upon learning that his mother was going blind, he decided to study medicine , specializing in ophthalmology at the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery but did not complete the program, claiming discrimination by the Spanish Dominican friars against the Filipino students. [4]

Without his parents' knowledge and consent, but secretly supported by his brother Paciano, he traveled alone to Europe, to Madrid in May 1882 to study medicine at the Universidad Central de Madrid where he earned the degree, Licentiate in Medicine. His education continued at the University of Paris and the University of Heidelberg where he earned a second doctorate. In Berlin he was inducted as a member of the Berlin Ethnological Society and the Berlin Anthropological Society under the patronage of the famous pathologist, Rudolf Virchow. Following custom, he delivered an address in German in April 1887 before the anthropological society on the orthography and structure of the Tagalog language. He left Heidelberg a poem, "A las flores del Heidelberg," which was both an evocation and a prayer for the welfare of his native land and the unification of common values between East and West.

At Heidelberg, the 25-year-old Rizal, completed in 1887 his eye specialization under the renowned Prof. Otto Becker. There he used the newly invented opthalmoscope (invented by the famous Professor Helmholtz) to later operate on his own mother's eye. From Heidelberg, Rizal wrote his parents: “I spend half of the day in the study of German and the other half, in the diseases of the eye. Twice a week, I go to the bierbrauerie, or beerhall, to speak German with my student friends.” He lived in a Karlstraße boarding house then moved to Ludwigsplatz. There, he met Reverend Karl Ullmer and stayed with them in Wilhemsfeld, where he wrote the last few chapters of “Noli Me Tangere”

Rizal's multi-facetedness was described by his German friend, who was an ornithologist and anthropologist, Dr. Adolf Meyer, as "stupendous." [5] Documented studies show him to be a polymath with the ability to master various skills and subjects. [6] [7] He was an ophthalmologist, sculptor , painter , educator, farmer , historian , playwright, and journalist . Besides poetry and creative writing, he dabbled, with varying degrees of expertise, in architecture , cartography , economics, ethnology , anthropology , sociology , dramatics, martial arts, fencing , and pistol shooting. He was also a Freemason , joining Acacia Lodge No. 9 during his time in Spain, selecting Dimasalang as his symbolic name within the Craft. [8]

José Rizal's most famous works were his two novels, Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. These writings angered both the Spaniards and the hispanicized Filipinos due to their insulting symbolism . They are highly critical of Spanish friars and the atrocities committed in the name of the Church. Rizal's first critic was Ferdinand Blumentritt, a Sudetan-German professor and historian whose first reaction was of misgiving. Blumentritt was the grandson of the Imperial Treasurer at Vienna and a staunch defender of the Catholic faith . This did not dissuade him however from writing the preface of El Filibusterismo after he had translated Noli me Tangere into German. Noli was published in Berlin (1887) and Fili in Ghent (1891) with funds borrowed largely from Rizal's friends. As Blumentritt had warned, these led to Rizal's prosecution as the inciter of revolution and eventually, to a military trial and execution. The intended consequence of teaching the natives where they stood brought about an adverse reaction, as the Philippine Revolution of 1896 took off virulently thereafter.

As leader of the reform movement of Filipino students in Spain, he contributed essays , allegories, poems , and editorials to the Spanish newspaper La Solidaridad in Barcelona. The core of his writings centered on liberal and progressive ideas of individual rights and freedom; specifically, rights for the Filipino people. He shared the same sentiments with members of the movement: that the Philippines were battling, in Rizal's own words, "a double-faced Goliath"–corrupt friars and bad government. His commentaries reiterate the following agenda: In his letter "Manifesto to Certain Filipinos" (Manila, 1896), he states:

Reforms, if they are to bear fruit, must come from above; for reforms that come from below are upheavals both violent and transitory. [9]

write the biography of dr. jose rizal

  • That the Philippines be a province of Spain
  • Representation in the Cortes
  • Filipino priests instead of Spanish friars—Augustinians, Dominicans , and Franciscans—in parishes and remote sitios
  • Freedom of assembly and speech
  • Equal rights before the law (for both Filipino and Spanish plaintiffs)

The colonial authorities in the Philippines did not favor these reforms even though they were openly endorsed by Spanish intellectuals such as Morayta, Unamuno , Margall and others.

Upon his return to Manila in 1892, he formed a civic movement called La Liga Filipina. The league advocated these moderate social reforms through legal means, but was disbanded by the governor . At that time, he had already been declared an enemy of the state by the Spanish authorities because of the publication of his novels .

Exile in Dapitan

Rizal was implicated in the activities of the nascent rebellion and in July 1892, was deported to Dapitan in the province of Zamboanga. There he built a school, a hospital and a water supply system, and taught and engaged in farming and horticulture . Abaca, then the vital raw material for cordage and which Rizal and his students planted in the thousands, was a memorial.

In Dapitan, the Jesuits mounted a great effort to secure his return to the fold led by Father Sanchez, his former professor, who failed in his mission. The task was resumed by Father Pastells, a prominent member of the Order. In a letter to Pastells, Rizal expresses an ecumenical spirit more common today. [10]

We are entirely in accord in admitting the existence of God. How can I doubt his when I am convinced of mine. Who so recognizes the effect recognizes the cause. To doubt God is to doubt one's own conscience, and in consequence, it would be to doubt everything; and then what is life for? Now then, my faith in God, if the result of a ratiocination may be called faith, is blind, blind in the sense of knowing nothing. I neither believe nor disbelieve the qualities which many attribute to him; before theologians' and philosophers' definitions and lucubrations of this ineffable and inscrutable being I find myself smiling. Faced with the conviction of seeing myself confronting the supreme Problem, which confused voices seek to explain to me, I cannot but reply: 'It could be; but the God that I foreknow is far more grand, far more good: Plus Supra! …I believe in (revelation); but not in revelation or revelations which each religion or religions claim to possess. Examining them impartially, comparing them and scrutinizing them, one cannot avoid discerning the human 'fingernail' and the stamp of the time in which they were written…. No, let us not make God in our image, poor inhabitants that we are of a distant planet lost in infinite space. However, brilliant and sublime our intelligence may be, it is scarcely more than a small spark which shines and in an instant is extinguished, and it alone can give us no idea of that blaze, that conflagration, that ocean of light. I believe in revelation, but in that living revelation which surrounds us on every side, in that voice, mighty, eternal, unceasing, incorruptible, clear, distinct, universal as is the being from whom it proceeds, in that revelation which speaks to us and penetrates us from the moment we are born until we die. What books can better reveal to us the goodness of God, his love, his providence, his eternity, his glory, his wisdom? 'The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork.' [9]

As a gift to his mother on her birth anniversary he wrote the other of his poems of maturity, "Mi Retiro," with a description of a calm night overlaid with a million stars. The poem, with its concept of a spontaneous creation and speaking of God as Plus Supra , is considered his accommodation of evolution.

...the breeze idly cools, the firmament glows, the waves tell in sighs to the docile wind timeless stories beneath the shroud of night. Say that they tell of the world, the first dawn of the sun, the first kiss that his bosom inflamed, when thousands of beings surged out of nothing, and peopled the depths, and to the heights mounted, to wherever his fecund kiss was implanted. [11]

write the biography of dr. jose rizal

His best friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt, kept him in touch with European friends and fellow-scientists who wrote a stream of letters which arrived in Dutch, French, German and English and which baffled the censors, delaying their transmittal. Those four years of his exile coincided with the development of the Philippine Revolution from inception and to its final breakout. [9] Despite the fact that he condemned the uprising, all the members of the Katipunan made him honorary president and used his name as a war-cry. From the viewpoint of the court which was to try him, this was enough to demonstrate his complicity in it.

Near the end of his exile he met and courted the stepdaughter of a patient, an Irishwoman named Josephine Bracken. He was unable to obtain an ecclesiastical marriage because he would not return to the religion of his youth and was not known to be clearly against revolution. He nonetheless considered Josephine to be his wife and the only person mentioned in the poem, Farewell, sweet stranger, my friend, my joy... [12]

By 1896, the rebellion fomented by the Katipunan, a militant secret society, had become a full blown revolution, proving to be a nationwide uprising and leading to the first proclamation of a democratic republic in Asia. To dissociate himself, Rizal volunteered and was given leave by the Spanish Governor General Ramon Blanco to serve in Cuba to minister to victims of yellow fever. Blanco later was to present his sash and sword to the Rizal family as an apology.

Before he left Dapitan, he issued a manifesto disavowing the revolution and declaring that the education of Filipinos and their achievement of a national identity were prerequisites to freedom.

Rizal was arrested en route, imprisoned in Barcelona, and sent back to Manila to stand trial. He was implicated in the revolution through his association with members of the Katipunan and was to be tried before a court-martial for rebellion, sedition , and conspiracy. During the entire passage, he was unchained, no Spaniard laid a hand on him, and had many opportunities to escape but refused to do so. Rizal was convicted on all three charges and sentenced to death . Governor General Blanco, who was sympathetic to Rizal, had been forced out of office, and the friars had intercalated Polavieja in his stead, sealing Rizal's fate.

In 1896 while Rizal was in prison in Fort Santiago, his brother Paciano was tortured by Spaniards trying to extract evidence of Jose's complicity in the revolution. Two officers took turns applying pins under Paciano's fingernails; with his hands bound behind him and raised several feet, he was dropped repeatedly until he lost consciousness.

His poem, undated and believed to be written on the day before his execution, was hidden in an alcohol stove and later handed to his family with his few remaining possessions, including the final letters and his last bequests. Within hearing of the Spanish guards he reminded his sisters in English, "There is something inside it," referring to the alcohol stove given by the Pardo de Taveras which was to be returned after his execution, thereby emphasizing the importance of the poem. This instruction was followed by another, "Look in my shoes," in which another item was secreted. Exhumation of his remains in August, 1898, under American rule, revealed he had been uncoffined, his burial not on sanctified ground granted the 'confessed' faithful, and whatever was in his shoes had disintegrated. [6]

In his letter to his family he wrote: "Treat our aged parents as you would wish to be treated...Love them greatly in memory of me...December 30, 1896." [9]

In his final letter, to the Sudeten-German professor Ferdinand Blumentritt - Tomorrow at 7, I shall be shot; but I am innocent of the crime of rebellion... [9] He had to reassure him that he had not turned revolutionary as he once considered being, and that he shared his ideals to the very end. He also bequeathed a book personally bound by him in Dapitan to his 'best and dearest friend.' When Blumentritt received it he broke down and wept.

write the biography of dr. jose rizal

According to tradition, moments before his execution by a firing squad of Filipino native infantry , backed by an insurance force of Spanish troops, the Spanish surgeon general requested to take Rizal's pulse; it was normal. Aware of this, the Spanish sergeant in charge of the backup force hushed his men to silence when they began raising '¡vivas!' with the partisan crowd. His last words were that of Jesus Christ: " consummatum est — it is done." [13] [7] Rizal's trial was regarded a travesty even by prominent Spaniards of his day. Soon after his execution, the philosopher Miguel de Unamuno in an impassioned utterance recognized Rizal as a "Spaniard," "...profoundly and intimately Spanish, far more Spanish than those wretched men—forgive them, Lord, for they knew not what they did—those wretched men, who over his still warm body hurled like an insult heavenward that blasphemous cry, 'Viva Espana!' [14]

write the biography of dr. jose rizal

He was secretly buried in Paco Cemetery in Manila with no identification on his grave. His sister Narcisa toured all possible gravesites and found freshly turned earth at the cemetery with civil guards posted at the gate. Assuming this could be the most likely spot, there being ever no ground burials there, she made a gift to the caretaker to mark the site "RPJ."

A national monument

A monument, with his remains, now stands near the place where he fell, designed by the Swiss Richard Kissling of the famed William Tell sculpture. Interestingly, Rizal himself translated Schiller's William Tell into Tagalog in 1886. [15] The statue carries the inscription:

I want to show to those who deprive people the right to love of country, that when we know how to sacrifice ourselves for our duties and convictions, death does not matter if one dies for those one loves – for his country and for others dear to him. [9]

'Retraction' controversy

write the biography of dr. jose rizal

That his burial was not on holy ground led to issues raised on the veracity of accounts of his 'retraction,' which the Church ever since has been vigorously defending. Many continue to believe that Rizal neither married his sweetheart Josephine Bracken in Roman Catholic rites hours before his execution nor ever retracted those parts of his writings that were anti-Roman Catholic. [16] [17]

Those who deny the retraction point out to a revealing clue tucked in 'Adiós', I go where there are no slaves, no hangmen or oppressors, where faith does not kill... [18] Whether this stanza was his final comment on the Catholic Church is a subject of dispute. In most of his writings Rizal maintained that the men of the cloth were the real rulers and the real government. Much of the Church's case rests on claims of a signed retraction, a copy of which could not be produced and shown to the Rizal family despite their repeated requests. The retraction controversy was documented in a film Bayaning Third World by Mike de Leon.

"Mi último adiós"

The poem is more aptly titled, "Adiós, Patria Adorada" (literally "Farewell, Beloved Country"). By virtue of logic and literary tradition, the words come from the first line of the poem itself. It first appeared in print not in Manila but in Hong Kong in 1897, when a copy of the poem and an accompanying photograph came to J. P. Braga who decided to publish it in a monthly journal he edited. There was a delay when Braga, who greatly admired Rizal, wanted a good job of the photograph and sent it to be engraved in London, a process taking well over two months. It finally appeared under 'Mi último pensamiento,' a title he supplied and by which it was known for a few years. Thus, when the Jesuit Father Balaguer's anonymous account of the retraction and the marriage to Josephine was appearing in Barcelona, no word of the poem's existence reached him in time to revise what he had written. His account was to elaborate that Rizal would have had no time to write "Adiós."

Six years after his death, when the Philippine Organic Act of 1902 was being debated in the United States Congress, Representative Henry Cooper of Wisconsin rendered an English translation of Rizal's valedictory poem capped by the peroration, "Under what clime or what skies has tyranny claimed a nobler victim?" The American government, however, would not sign the bill into law until 1916 and did not grant full autonomy until 1946—1950 years after Rizal's death.

Josephine Bracken

write the biography of dr. jose rizal

Josephine Bracken promptly joined the revolutionary forces in Cavite province, making her way through thicket and mud, and helped operate a reloading jig for Mauser cartridges at the arsenal at Imus. The short-lived arsenal under the Revolutionary General Pantaleon Garcia had been reloading spent cartridges again and again and the reloading jig was in continuous use, but Imus was under threat of recapture that the operation had to move, with Josephine, to Maragondon, the mountain redoubt in Cavite. She witnessed the Tejeros Convention prior to returning to Manila and was summoned by the Governor-General, but owing to her stepfather's American citizenship she could not be forcibly deported. She left voluntarily, returning to Hong Kong. She later married another Filipino, Vicente Abad, a mestizo acting as agent for the Philippine firm of Tabacalera. She died in Hong Kong in 1902, a pauper's death, buried in an unknown grave, and never knew how a line of verse had rendered her immortal. [19]

She bore a stillborn child with Rizal, who was buried in Dapitan, Mindanao. The child's birth is portrayed in the Marilou Diaz-Abaya film "Rizal."

Polavieja faced condemnation by his countrymen. Years after his return to Spain, while visiting Giron in Cataluña , circulars were distributed among the crowd bearing Rizal's last verses, his portrait, and the charge that to Polavieja was due the loss of the Philippines to Spain.

Attempts to debunk legends surrounding Rizal, and the tug of war between free thinker and Catholic, have served to keep him a living issue. Rizal has remained a controversial figure. In one recorded fall from grace he succumbed to the temptation of a 'lady of the camelias.' The writer, Maximo Viola, a friend of Rizal's, was alluding to Dumas's 1848 novel, La Dame aux camelias, about a man who fell in love with a courtesan. While the affair was on record, there was no account in Viola's letter whether it was more than a one-night event and if it was more of a business transaction than an amorous affair. [20]

Others present him as a man of contradictions. Miguel de Unamuno in "Rizal: the Tagalog Hamlet," said of him, "a soul that dreads the revolution although deep down desires it. He pivots between fear and hope, between faith and despair." [21] His critics assert this character flaw is translated into his two novels where he opposes violence in Noli and appears to advocate it in Fili, contrasting Ibarra's idealism to Simoun's cynicism. His defenders insist this ambivalence is trounced when Simoun is struck down in the sequel's final chapters, reaffirming the author's resolute stance, "Pure and spotless must the victim be if the sacrifice is to be acceptable." [22] In the same tenor, Rizal condemned the uprising when Bonifacio asked for his support. Bonifacio, in turn, openly denounced him as a coward for his refusal. Bonifacio denounced him, at the same time, he mobilized his men to attempt to liberate Rizal while in Ft. Santiago [7] Rizal believed that an armed struggle for independence was premature and ill-conceived. Here Rizal is speaking through Father Florentino:

…our liberty will (not) be secured at the sword's point… we must secure it by making ourselves worthy of it. And when a people reaches that height God will provide a weapon, the idols will be shattered, tyranny will crumble like a house of cards and liberty will shine out like the first dawn. [22]

Rizal never held a gun or sword in the battlefield to fight for freedom. This fact leads some to question his ranking as the nation's premier hero, with a few who believe in the beatification of Bonifacio in his stead. In his defense, the historian, Rafael Palma, contends that the revolution of Bonifacio is a consequence wrought by the writings of Rizal and that although the sword of Bonifacio produced an immediate outcome, the pen of Rizal generated a more lasting achievement. [23]

write the biography of dr. jose rizal

Rizal was a polyglot conversant in at least ten languages. [6] He was conversant in Spanish, French, Latin , Greek , German, Portuguese, Italian, English, Dutch and Japanese. Rizal also made translations from Arabic, Swedish, Russian, Chinese, Greek, Hebrew, and Sanskrit . He translated the poetry of Schiller into his native Tagalog. In addition he had at least some knowledge of Malay, Chavacano, Cebuano, Ilocano, and Subanun. [7]

Rizal's annotations of Morga's Sucesos de las islas Filipinas (1609), which he copied word for word from the British Museum and had published, called attention to an antiquated book, a testimony to the well-advanced civilization in the Philippines during pre-Spanish era. In his essay "The Indolence of the Filipino" Rizal stated that three centuries of Spanish rule did not do much for the advancement of his countryman; in fact there was a 'retrogression,' and the Spanish colonialists have transformed him into a 'half-way brute.' The absence of moral stimulus, the lack of material inducement, the demoralization—'the indio should not be separated from his carabao', the endless wars, the lack of a national sentiment, the Chinese piracy —all these factors, according to Rizal, helped the colonial rulers succeed in placing the indio "on a level with the beast." [24]

He was a prolific poet, essayist, diarist, correspondent, and novelist whose most famous works were his two novels, Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo . [25] These are social commentaries on the Philippines that formed the nucleus of literature that inspired dissent among peaceful reformists and spurred the militancy of armed revolutionaries against 333 years of Spanish rule.

Rizal's advocacy of institutional reforms by peaceful means rather than by violent revolution makes him Asia's first modern non-violent proponent of political reforms. Forerunner of Mahatma Gandhi and contemporary of Tagore and Sun Yat Sen , all four created a new climate of thought throughout Asia, leading to the attrition of colonialism and the emergence of new Asiatic nations by the end of World War II . Rizal's appearance on the scene came at a time when European colonial power had been growing and spreading, mostly motivated by trade, some for the purpose of bringing Western forms of government and education to peoples regarded as backward. Coinciding with the appearance of those other leaders, Rizal from an early age had been enunciating in poems, tracts and plays, ideas all his own of modern nationhood as a practical possibility in Asia. In the Noli he stated that if European civilization had nothing better to offer, colonialism in Asia was doomed. He stated in his essay, "The Philippines: A Century Hence":

The batteries are gradually becoming charged and if the prudence of the government does not provide an outlet for the currents that are accumulating, someday the sparks will be generated. [26]

Such sentiment was recognized by Gandhi who regarded him as a forerunner in the cause of freedom . Jawaharlal Nehru , in his prison letters to his daughter Indira , acknowledged Rizal's significant contributions in the Asian freedom movement. These leaders regarded these contributions as keystones and acknowledged Rizal's role in the movement as foundation layer.

Rizal, through his reading of Morga and other western historians, knew of the genial image of Spain's early relations with his people. [24] In his writings, he showed the disparity between the early colonialists and those of his day, with the latter's atrocities giving rise to Gomburza and the Philippine Revolution of 1896.

His biographer, Austin Coates, and writer, Benedict Anderson, believe that Rizal gave the Philippine revolution a genuinely national character; and that Rizal's patriotism and his standing as one of Asia's first intellectuals have inspired others of the importance of a national identity to nation-building. [13] According to Anderson, Rizal is one of the best exemplars of nationalist thinking. [27]

write the biography of dr. jose rizal

Although his field of action lay in politics, Rizal's real interests lay in the arts and sciences, in literature and in his profession as an ophthalmologist. Shortly after his death, the Anthropological Society of Berlin met to honor him with a reading of a German translation of his farewell poem and Dr. Rudolf Virchow delivering the eulogy. [28]

A plaque marks the Heidelberg building where he trained with Professor Becker, while in Wilhemsfeld, a smaller version of the Rizal Park with his bronze statue stands and the street where he lived was also renamed after him. A sandstone fountain in Pastor Ullmer’s house garden where Rizal lived in Wilhemsfeld, stands.

The Taft Commission in June 1901 approved Act 137 renaming the District of Morong into the Province of Rizal, and Act 346 authorizing a government subscription for the erection of a national monument in Rizal's honor. Republic Act 1425 was passed in 1956 by the Philippine legislature that would include in all high school and college curricula a course in the study of his life, works and writings. The wide acceptance of Rizal is partly evidenced by the countless towns, streets, and numerous parks in the Philippines named in his honor. Monuments in his honor were erected in Toronto Canada, Madrid , Spain,> Wilhelmsfeld, Germany, Jinjiang, Fujian , China, Chicago , Cherry Hill Township, New Jersey, San Diego , [29] and Seattle , U.S.A., Reforma Avenue in Mexico City, Mexico, La Molina in Lima, Peru and many poetic titles were bestowed on him: "Pride of the Malay Race," "the First Filipino," "Greatest Man of the Brown Race," among others. The Order of the Knights of Rizal, a civic and patriotic organization, boasts of dozens of chapters all over the globe. There are some remote-area religious sects who claim him as a sublimation of Christ .

On June 19, 2008, a prominent bronze bust relief of Rizal, dubbed "the great Malayan," was unveiled by the President of Singapore Mr S.R. Nathan and the Philippine Department of Education Secretary Jesli Lapus at the Asian Civilisations Museum Green. The historic occasion was witnessed by Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Belen Fule-Anota, Chairman Ambeth Ocampo of the National Historical Institute, Singapore Ambassador-At-Large Prof. Tommy Koh and Mr Michael Koh, Chief Executive Officer of the National Heritage Board Singapore. Also present were members of the diplomatic corps, Singapore government officials and members of the Filipino community in Singapore. The two-sided marker bears a picture of a painting of Rizal by Fabian de la Rosa on one side. The other side was a bronze relief of Rizal by Philippine national artist Guillermo Tolentino, fabricated by Peter de Guzman. This artwork serves to mark the visits (1882, 1887, 1891,1896) of Rizal to Singapore

Peruvians on November 22, 2008 erected a monument in the Rizal Park at La Molina district, Lima , Peru , to honor Rizal. A bronze bust, designed by Czech sculptor Hanstroff, is mounted atop a pedestal base where 4 inaugural plaque markers with the inscription on one marker: “Dr. Jose P. Rizal, Héroe Nacional de Filipinas, Nacionalista, Reformador Political, Escritor, Linguistica y Poeta, 1861-1896.”

  • ↑ Prota, not Protacio. Prota is a version of San Protasio (Saint Protasius/Protase). The name Protasio was used later on his school registration.
  • ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Cielito G. Reyno, National Rizal’s Paternal Lineage National Historical Commission of the Phillipines , September 18, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  • ↑ 3.0 3.1 Vicente Rafael, Foreignness and Vengeance: On Rizal's "El Filibusterismo" UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies (2002). Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  • ↑ 4.0 4.1 Teofilo H. Montemayor, Jose Rizal: A Biographical Sketch . Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  • ↑ The Many-Sided Personality joserizal.ph . Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  • ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Austin Craig, Lineage, Life and Labors of Jose Rizal, Philippine Patriot (Kessinger Publishing, 2004 (original 1913), ISBN 1419130587 ).
  • ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Frank Laubach, Rizal: Man and Martyr (Manila: Community Publishers, 1936).
  • ↑ Fred Lamar Pearson, Jr., Review of Dimasalang: The Masonic Life Of Dr. Jose P. Rizal Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  • ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Teodoro Kalaw (ed.), Epistolario Rizalino: 4 volumes, 1400 letters to and from Rizal, (Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1930-1938).
  • ↑ Raul J. Bonoan, S.J., The Rizal-Pastells Correspondence (Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1996, ISBN 9715501230 ).
  • ↑ Mi Retiro , stanzas 7 and 8.
  • ↑ Mi Ultimo Adios , stanza 14.
  • ↑ 13.0 13.1 Austin Coates, Rizal: Philippine Nationalist and Martyr (London: Oxford University Press, 1968).
  • ↑ Wenceslao Emilio Retana, Vida y Escritos del Dr. Jose Rizal (Nabu Press, 2010 (original 1907), ISBN 978-1149130803 ).
  • ↑ Rizal in Berlin, Germany Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  • ↑ Jesus Cavanna, Rizal's Unfading Glory: A Documentary History of the Conversion of Dr. Jose Rizal (Manila: 1956).
  • ↑ Ricardo Roque Pascual, Jose Rizal Beyond the Grave (Manila: P. Ayuda & Co., 1962).
  • ↑ Mi Ultimo Adiós , stanza 13.
  • ↑ Ambeth Ocampo, Rizal without the Overcoat (Manila: Anvil Publishing Co., 2008, ISBN 9789712700439 ).
  • ↑ Miguel de Unamuno, "The Tagalog Hamlet" The Centenary of the Rizal Monument . Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  • ↑ 22.0 22.1 Jose Rizal, El Filibusterismo, translated by Soledad Lacson-Locsin (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007, ISBN 0824831322 ).
  • ↑ Rafael Palma, Pride of the Malay Race (New York: Prentice Hall, 1949), 367.
  • ↑ 24.0 24.1 José Rizal, The Indolence of the Filipino (Hard Press, 2006, ISBN 1406928593 ).
  • ↑ His signature book Noli was one of the first novels in Asia written outside Japan and China and was one of the first novels of anti-colonial rebellion. Noli me Tangere, translated by Soledad Locsin (Manila: Ateneo de Manila, 1996, ISBN 9715691889 ).
  • ↑ José Rizal, Filipinas Dentro De Cien Años Project Gutenberg Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  • ↑ Benedict Anderson, Under Three Flags: Anarchism and the anti colonial imagination (London: Verso Publication, 2005, ISBN 1844670376 ).
  • ↑ Dr. Rudolf Virchow, Obituary for Dr. Jose Rizal in 1897 . Retrieved December 9, 2023.(in English)
  • ↑ Michael C. Burgess, Dr. Rizal's story is a lesson to us all byronik.com . Retrieved December 9, 2023.

References ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Anderson, Benedict. Under Three Flags: anarchism and the anti colonial imagination. London: Verso Publication, 2005. ISBN 1844670376
  • Bonoan, Raul J., S.J. The Rizal-Pastells Correspondence: The hitherto unpublished letters of Jose Rizal and portions of Fr. Pablo Pastells's fourth letter and translation of … background and theological critique. Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994/1996. ISBN 9715501230
  • Cavanna, Jesus. Rizal's Unfading Glory: A Documentary History of the Conversion of Dr. Jose Rizal. Manila, 1983.
  • Coates, Austin. Rizal: Philippine Nationalist and Martyr . London: Oxford University Press, 1968. ASIN B0006CY030
  • Craig, Austin. Lineage, Life and Labors of Jose Rizal, Philippine Patriot . Kessinger Publishing, 2004 (original 1913). ISBN 1419130587
  • Joaquin, Nick. A Question of Heroes: Essays and criticisms on ten key figures of Philippine History. Manila: Ayala Museum: 1977.
  • Kalaw, Teodoro (ed.). Epistolario Rizalino: 4 volumes, 1400 letters to and from Rizal. Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1930-1938.
  • Laubach, Frank. Rizal: Man and Martyr. Manila: Community Publishers, 1936.
  • Medina, Elizabeth. Rizal According to Retana: Portrait of a Hero and a Revolution. Santiago, Chile: Virtual Multimedia, 1998. ISBN 9567483094
  • Ocampo, Ambeth R. Meaning and History: The Rizal Lectures. Pasig: Anvil Publishing, 2001. ISBN 9789712711503
  • Ocampo, Ambeth R. Calendar of Rizaliana in the vault of the National Library. Pasig: Anvil Publishing, 1993. ISBN 9789712702945
  • Ocampo, Ambeth R. Makamisa: The Search for Rizal's Third Novel. Pasig: Anvil Publishing, 1992. ISBN 9789712702747
  • Ocampo, Ambeth R. Rizal without the overcoat. Pasig: Anvil Publishing, 2008. ISBN 9789712700439
  • Palma, Raphael. Pride of the Malay Race. New York: Prentice Hall, 1949. reprinted in 1966 as The pride of the Malay Race: A Biography of JoseÌ Rizal.
  • Quirino, Carlos. The Great Malayan. Makati City: Tahanan Books, 1997. ISBN 9716300859
  • Retana, Wenceslao Emilio. Vida y Escritos del Dr. Jose Rizal . Nabu Press, 2010 (original 1907). ISBN 978-1149130803
  • Rizal, Jose. El Filibusterismo: Subversion: A Sequel to Noli Me Tangere. Soledad Lacson-Locsin, translator. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007. ISBN 0824831322 . in English.
  • Rizal, Jose. The Indolence of the Filipino. Hard Press, 2006. ISBN 1406928593 . in English
  • Rizal, Jose. Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not). Soledad Locsin, translator. Manila: Ateneo de Manila, 1996. ISBN 9715691889
  • Rizal, Jose. The Social Cancer. reprint. Kessinger Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1419182838
  • Roque Pascual, Ricardo. Jose Rizal Beyond the Grave: A vindication of the martyr of Bagumbayan. (1935) Manila: P. Ayuda & Co., 1962. (in English)
  • Roque Pascual, Ricardo. The philosophy of Rizal. Manila: P.B. Ayuda, 1st edition. 1962. (in English)
  • Zaide, Gregorio F. Jose Rizal: Life, Works and Writings of a Genius, Writer, Scientist and National Hero. Manila: National Bookstore, 2003. ISBN 9710805207

External links

All links retrieved December 8, 2023.

  • Works by José Rizal . Project Gutenberg
  • Review of Dimasalang: The Masonic Life Of Dr. Jose P. Rizal by Fred Lamar Pearson, Jr.
  • Caiñgat Cayo! original image scans of the pamphlet written in 1889.
  • Extensive annotated list of Rizaliana materials on the Internet
  • José Mercado Rizal Catholic Encyclopedia .

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Having traveled extensively in Europe, America and Asia, he mastered 22 languages. These include Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Malayan, Portuguese, Russian, Sanskrit, Spanish, Tagalog, and other native dialects. A versatile genius, he was an architect, artists, businessman, cartoonist, educator, economist, ethnologist, scientific farmer, historian, inventor, journalist, linguist, musician, mythologist, nationalist, naturalist, novelist, opthalmic surgeon, poet, propagandist, psychologist, scientist, sculptor, sociologist, and theologian.

He was an expert swordsman and a good shot. In the hope of securing political and social reforms for his country and at the same time educate his countrymen, Rizal, the greatest apostle of Filipino natiofaults but even fabricating charges to pin him down. Thus, he was imprisoned in Fort Santiago from July 6, 1892 to July 15, 1892 on a charge that anti-friar pamphlets were found in the luggage of his sister Lucia who arrive with him from Hong Kong. While a political exile in Dapitan, he engaged in agriculture, fishing and business; he maintained and operated a hospital; he conducted classes- taught his pupils the English and Spanish languages, the arts. What are incl ded in the pill ( www.gulickhhc.com/drugs/erectile-dysfunction/silagra.htm ) with your doctor aboutmedications that which we are becoming increasinglyapparent. Because this, heart disease have beendiagnosed at scars that can obtain it is generallytreated differently.

The sciences, vocational courses including agriculture, surveying, sculpturing, and painting, as well as the art of self defense; he did some researches and collected specimens; he entered into correspondence with renowned men of letters and sciences abroad; and with the help of his pupils, he constructed water dam and a relief map of Mindanao - both considered remarkable engineering feats. His sincerity and friendliness won for him the trust and confidence of even those assigned to guard him; his good manners and warm personala man whose 35 years of life had been packed with varied activities which proved that the Filipino has capacity to equal if not excel even those who treat him as a slave, was shot at Bagumbayan Field. 

 

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JoseRizal.com

Jose Rizal Biography

Jose Rizal was a Filipino polymath whose martyrdom helped spark the revolution of the Philippines from Spanish occupation. Read about his life, works, and legacy.

On June 19th 1861, the Mercado Family from the town of Calamba in the province of Laguna in the Philippines, happily greeted the birth of their newest member — a baby boy born as the seventh child to proud parents Francisco Rizal Mercado y Alejandro and Teodora Alonso Realonda y Quintos. They named the bouncing baby boy Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado .

Being the seventh of a brood of eleven, Jose Rizal Mercado demonstrated an astounding intelligence and aptitude for learning at a very young age when he learned his letters from his mother and could read and write at the age of five.

Educational Foundations

The Mercado family enjoyed relative wealth as landowners who rented the land of their hacienda to the Dominican friars in Laguna. Hence, education was a priority for the Mercado family and young Jose Protacio was sent to learn from Justiniano Aquino Cruz, a tutor from nearby Binan, Laguna. But the education of a small town and a tutor did not sufficiently quench the young man’s thirst for knowledge and soon, the family began to make preparations for his admission to the Ateneo Municipal de Manila , in the capital of the Philippines.

The school was run by the Jesuit Order and was one of the most prominent and academic institutions in the country which catered to the rich, the powerful and most intelligent students that country had, certainly a place for a young man like Jose Protasio Mercado.

Studying in Manila

Prior to his enrollment in this prominent learning institution, his older brother Paciano Rizal Mercado, insisted that Jose drop the surname “Mercado”, to ensure that the younger Mercado would be disassociated with the outspoken and borderline subversive reputation of his older brother. As such, the young man known as Jose Protasio Rizal enrolled at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila.

Being the child of a family of wealthy landowners, Jose Rizal decided to study for a degree in Land Surveying and Assessment at the Ateneo de Municipal de Manila where he graduated on March 14, 1877, with honors or sobresaliente . He took and passed the licensure exam for land surveying and assessment in 1878 but was not given a license until 1881 when he turned 21.

In 1878, after his completion of his degree from Ateneo Municipal de Manila, he pursued, his passion for the arts as he enrolled at the Faculty of Arts and Letters for a degree in Philosophy at the University of Santo Tomas . Although he excelled at philosophy, the news of his mother’s impending blindness convinced him to study Medicine, and in 1878 he enrolled in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at University of Santo Tomas to specialize in ophthalmology. Citing discrimination against Filipino students by the Dominican professors in Medicine, Rizal left the medical program in 1882.

Believing that education in the country was limited, he boarded a ship to Spain with the support of his older brother Paciano but without informing his parents. The ten years he would spend on the European continent would leave an indelible mark on his personality and open his eyes to the world, develop his natural talents and strengthen his devotion to his motherland.

Academics in Europe

In Spain, he continued the studies that were stalled in the Philippines and enrolled at the Universidad Central de Madrid where he graduated in 1884 with a degree in Medicine, and a year later with a degree in Philosophy and letters from the same institution. Even after the completion of these two degrees, he still was not satisfied and traveled to France and studied at the University of Paris .

In his pursuit to further increase his knowledge in his chosen field of specialization — ophthalmology — he studied at the University of Heidelberg under the distinguished eye specialist, Professor Otto Becker .

Recognition in Europe

Born a few centuries too late, Rizal could have been an ideal Renaissance Man , he was a polymath who excelled at anything he put his considerable mind and talents to. The study of land assessment, medicine, and literature are just a few of his known accomplishments but he also excellent in arts such as sculpting, painting, architecture; physical activities such as martial arts, fencing, pistol shooting were also where he demonstrated his prowess; he was well read could discuss agriculture, economics, sociology, anthropology and history at will.

write the biography of dr. jose rizal

117 years after Rizal’s death , the government where his family hailed in Calamba, Laguna recognized Rizal’s ability in various sports during his lifetime.

READ:  Jose Rizal as a hero sportsman , the great “eskrimador” or dueler.

Apart from these, he was also multilingual and was known to have been able to converse in over 10 languages including Filipino, Spanish, English, French, German, and Dutch, among others.

Rizal was also a member of the Freemasons . It is therefore no surprise that wherever he went, people were drawn to his charm, wit, intelligence and personality. He made friends and lovers wherever he went and left an impression and reputation that would outlive him.

Foundations for Reform

Even as a youth, Jose Rizal had been exposed to the difficulties of being under the Spanish colonial government, which had instilled in him the need for change in the system of how the country was being run. Jose Rizal spent most of his time with his older brother Paciano, a man who had been linked to Filipino priests, Gomez, Burgos and Zamora , who sought reform within the catholic church by advocating equal rights for Filipino and Spanish priests in the Philippines. The three priests were later accused of being subversive and were executed by the Spanish colonial government.

Even closer to home, Rizal saw the treatment accorded to his beloved mother by the Spanish authorities who accused her of attempting to poison her cousin and sent her to jail in Santa Cruz, Laguna. Teodora Mercado was made to walk sixteen kilometers from their home to the prison and was incarcerated for two and a half years until a successful appeal at the highest court of the Spanish government cleared her of the charges.

During his stay in first stay in Europe, Rizal wrote his novel, Noli Me Tangere .The book was written in Spanish and first published in Berlin, Germany in 1887. The Noli , as it is more commonly known, tells the story of a young Filipino man who travels to Europe to study and returns home with new eyes to the injustices and corruption in his native land.

Rizal used elaborate characters to symbolize the different personalities and characteristics of both the oppressors and the oppressed, paying notable attention to Filipinos who had adopted the customs of their colonizers, forgetting their own nationality; the Spanish friars who were portrayed as lustful and greedy men in robes who sought only to satisfy their own needs, and the poor and ignorant members of society who knew no other life but that of one of abject poverty and cruelty under the yoke of the church and state. Rizal’s first novel was a scalding criticism of the Spanish colonial system in the country and Philippine society in general, was met with harsh reactions from the elite, the church and the government.

Upon his return to the country, he was summoned by the Governor General of the Philippine Islands to explain himself in light of accusations that he was a subversive and an inciter of rebellion. Rizal faced the charges and defended himself admirably, and although he was exonerated, his name would remain on the watch list of the colonial government. Similarly, his work also produced a great uproar in the Catholic Church in the country, so much so that later, he was excommunicated.

Despite the reaction to his first novel, Rizal wrote a second novel, El Filibusterismo , and published it in 1891. Where the protagonist of Noli Me Tangere , Ibarra, was a pacifist and advocate of peaceful means of reforms to enact the necessary change in the system, the lead character in Fili , Simeon, was more militant and preferred to incite an armed uprising to achieve the same end. Hence the government could not help but notice that instead of being merely a commentary on Philippine society, the second novel could become the catalyst which would encourage Filipinos to revolt against the Spanish colonizers and overthrow the colonial government.

Arrest, Exile, and Incarceration

Upon his return to the Philippines in 1892, he was arrested by the Spanish government for being a subversive and for his reported involvement in the rebellion. He was then exiled to the island of the Dapitan in the southernmost island group of the Philippines, Mindanao. There he established a school that taught English to young boys, he worked on agricultural projects on abaca , a plant used for rope, and he continued to practice medicine, eventually meeting one of the most famous women in his life, Josephine Bracken .

Although Jose Rizal had repeatedly said that he advocated peaceful reforms in the Philippines, the Spanish government were correct in assuming that his novels would indeed stir up  a hornet’s nest of unrest in the islands. One of the leaders of the revolutionary group called Katipunan , Andres Bonifacio , had read the Rizal’s novels and had used these as a basis for the revolution. So influential was Rizal that even without his permission they named him as a member and Katipuneros shouted his name as part of the their battlecry.

With no wish to be further implicated in the revolution, Rizal asked and was granted permission by then governor General Ramon Blanco to travel to Cuba, another Spanish Colony at the time, to support in the medical efforts needed to suppress an outbreak of yellow fever. On the way to Cuba, Rizal was arrested and incarcerated in Barcelona due to the political manoeuvrings of the friars which saw Blanco removed from office and replaced by Camilo de Polavieja.

Execution and Death

READ:  Rizal on trial

Rizal was then brought back to the Philippines to face charges of rebellion due to his reported association with the revolutionary movement. The court found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Jose Rizal was executed by a firing squad on December 30 1896, at 7:00am, in Bagumbayan (now called Rizal Park ) and his remains were buried in an unmarked grave in the nearby Paco Cemetery.

Through the years, Rizal’s works and ideals have been cited by many reformists, such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Sun Yat Sen and even Ghandi as the means for peace reforms. As the national hero of the Philippines, his works, are required reading for all students and streets, buildings, and parks have been named after him and the 30th of December, his death anniversary, was declared a national holiday.

What made Jose Rizal worthy of becoming the Philippines’ national hero was not merely his intelligence, personality, literary acumen, or his pacifist ideals. Rather, it was his patriotism, optimism, undying love for his country and his belief in his countrymen which set him apart. He believed not merely in freedom but in the potential of the Filipino people to surpass what they were under the Spanish colonial government, and all he wished was for them to be given the chance to tap into that potential. And for that, he has earned his right place as a symbol of what a Filipino can do in one short lifetime.

104 thoughts on “Jose Rizal Biography”

RIZAL WORK IS AN EXPRESSION OF WORDS THAT HURTS WITHIN THE HEART OF TO ANY PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING BAD BUT EVEN SPANISH GONE STILL THEIR RACE FROM “QUEREDA” WORDS THAT CONTINUE AND THIS ARE FROM MOSTLY FROM LOWLAND BUILD THEIR ORGANIZATION THAT IS STRONG AND DANGER TO OTHERS. LAPU- LAPU, ANDRESS BONIFACIO AND BENIGNO AQUINO 11 ARE VICTIM OF DOGS. DOGS BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT TRUE FILIPINOS. THE WISDOM OF FERDINAND MARCOS IS WISDOM NOT FROM OF GOD BUT THE WISDOM OF CORY AQUINO IS FROM GOD.I RATHER BELIEVE TO MC ARTHUR THAN TO FERDINAND MARCOS WERE BRINGS MORE BETTER TO FILIPINOS.

Join the discussion…Baligtad ata isip nitong kumag na ito. Marcos made the Philippines productive not Cory or any other ponce pilato, O sige ano ano naipatayo in Cory copared to Marcos? Wala….

My gosh, you still believe that Marcos is great? Yes, he built many infrastructures but do you know where those are from? All of those are debts that he loaned from other countries. Those are debts that the Philippines is still paying up until now. Cory did not focus on making more infrastructures because during those times, the Philippines has enough and our country is still paying the debt of Marcos from building those infrastructures. Paano ka makakapagpatayo kung baon na baon pa rin tayo sa utang? Ang mga karaniwang Pilipino ay mabilis mauto gaya mo. Paano? Ang mga pulitiko ay nagpapatayo ng malalaking imprastraktura upang sabihin ng mga tao na ito ang nagawa niya, mabilis makita kasi kongkreto. Ganyan ang ginagawa ng mga politiko para iboto sila ulit ng mga tao. Kaya nga ngayon makakakita ka ng mga infrastructures na may pangalan ng politiko. Anong kapalit ng ginawa ni Marcos? Pagkakabaon ng kaapu-apohan niya sa utang at ang pagpatay at pagpapahirap sa libo-libong kababayan niya. Tingnan mo, yan din ang ginagawa ni Duterte, nagpapatayo ng mga infras para maalala siya na magaling siyang presidente pero ang totoo, lalo tayong nangungulelat. Mas baliktad ka mag-isip, COMMONER!

But during Marcos Time yun din yung time na ang taas ng utang ng bansa. Kaya mo maging presidente utang ka dito patayo ka ng ganyan pero paano yung return of Income? Paano mo sya babayadan? Yes, we acknowledge yung mga pinatayo nila mga pinagawa nila indeed maganda yung mga platform nila those time. Pero yung meron din naman downside and please do not disregard that kasi yun yung malaking topic na until now binabayadan natin.

Better read the history Sir/Maam.

he made us study his history and made the subjects harder

Sa lahat ng mga minamahal kong mga kababayan. Please google his name, and a lot of articles will appear, e.g. Wikipedia, Phil. History, etc. I have the privileged of being his town mate dahil taga Calamba rin po ako. Ang aking maternal grandfather ( Lolo Ambo as we fondly call him, was a neighbour of the Rizal family, pero mas kakilala at kalaro , ni Dr.Jose P.Rizal ang mas matandang kapatid niyang babae, si Lola Sisa, nee Alcala). Were he alive today, things might have turned out better or differently. He was born too soon, and I am emphatic that not one Filipino will “hold a candle” to our world famous “National Hero of the Philippines”.

Hello i just want to ask..did jose rizal really retracted?

Hoy, mga bobo, bayani ba kamo si Rizal? Ngo-ngo…Mason si Rizal kaya sya pinapatay, not katoliko. E kaso mo mali rin pananampalataya ni Rizal, so in my book he aint no hero. Kung Iglesia sana s’ya baka sakali, kaso mo FreeMason sya e, yun bang mga moron, este, Mormon daw. Nakoooh, e ano naman ang ituturong aral nila mula sa Jos? Sila ba ang isinugo para mangaral ng salita ng Jos? Nope, 3 nga Jos nila, Ama, anak & spirit. Anong kabobohan yun? Di ba iisa Jos at sya ay ispirito, hindi pati anak at santong ispirito Jos din. Isa lang ang sinabing Jos sa Biblya. E me nanay ba ang Jos? Si Maria? Nanay sya ni Jesus, gawa lang ng Jos. kaaway din sya ng Iglesia sa mga mali nilang aral, do some research man…I didn’t have I just type Dr. Jose Rizal and read his biography and found out he’s a freemason, or mason. Babaero rin si Rizal o ano pa……

Kawawa ka mali ang kulto mong napasukan kilalanin mo dapat si Gat Jose Rizal bago ka maghusga.

puro ka Jos hindi naman ganyan spelling ng Diyos. siguraduhin mong tama ka sa lahat kung manghuhusga ka rin lang para wala kaming masabi sayo.

Actually, being a member of the FreeMason Organization is does not negatively and heavily affect the public. Jose Rizal, the Hero of the Philippines, did not die ng dahil sa FreeMason siya, but because he had adequate knowledge of the deep secrets beneath the big churches and the government of the Philippines. Being a ‘babaero,’ as you blame does not mean na babaero na ang lahat. Although, I do agree with your ‘thoughts’ about Catholicisim but discriminating their organization and belief like that is vehemently evil. I suggest you do further analyzation sa mga researches mo, whoever you are, dahil you are stating so many fallacious words against our hero na wala ka naman talagang masyadong alam. Your religion is not the only religion on Earth, and therefore, it is wrong of you to claim that INC is a safe religion. The organization of Freemason holds the deepest secrets of the world at kasama na doon ang history ng Diyos. I did a further study on this, and I suggest you do that, too. This organization began long before your relatives have been born.

The same power that executed Rizal… Is also the power that crucified Jesus Christ???

dami mong sinasabi maniwala ka nalang sa alam mo… judge me if your perfect but if not, please shut up!! read the bible and understand…. nan dawit ka pa judge mental ka hoy mga bobo kung ikaw palabasa lang ya ammuna opopyaka na muncomment a pay why not to appreciate and respect those because actually that is them not you… understood… hoy mga bobo grabe siya palakpakan na yan genius.. pero atlist si jose rizal famous ikaw hinde hahaha hoy mga bobo pa daw oh grabe ka umayos ka nga jan…

May I know the name of author who wrote this article? Thank you.

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Jose Rizal: 12 facts you need to know about Philippines’ national hero

Asia philippines.

Read part of his “Farewell”: His 125th death anniversary is marked today

Philippine Hero Jose Rizal

During his time, Jose Rizal was considered a subversive. A pariah who deserved nothing but death. He advocated non-violence, but was executed anyway on December 30, exactly 125 years ago today, in a place reserved for public executions. He was made a glaring example for anyone who dared to stand up against the mighty.

Rizal, a reformist doctor and a prolific writer, is revered as the national hero of the Philippines. He lived, and died, towards the end of the 350-year Spanish colonial rule. After he died, his ideas thrived. And became a pulsating reality. Filipinos eventually broke free from Spain. Today, the sun never sets on places where Rizal's monuments are found, spread across the planet.

Some of the facts to know about Jose Rizal:

1. FULL NAME

His full name is José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda . He was a patriot, physician, poet par excellence and novelist who inspired the Philippine nationalist movement. He died at age 35, executed by Spanish colonial masters, who ruled the Philippines for 350 years.

Philippine Hero Jose Rizal

2. BIRTHPLACE

Rizal was born on June 19, 1861 in Calamba town, Laguna province, 54 km south of Manila, to Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y Alejandro and Teodora Morales Alonzo Realonda de Rizal y Quintos.

Philippine Hero Jose Rizal

The son of a well-to-do landowner, Rizal was a brilliant student. He initially studied medicine in Manila. At the age of 21, he traveled to Spain to complete his medical degree at the Universidad Central de Madrid, where he was conferred the degree of Licentiate in Medicine. He went to Paris and Germany to specialise in ophthalmology, in part because he wanted to cure his mother’s failing eyesight.

Philippine Hero Jose Rizal

4. POLYMATH

In Germany, he worked at the University Eye Hospital under Dr. Otto Becker. During his stay in Europe between 1882 and 1892, he wrote several poems and two novels.

A polyglot, he learnt several languages — Arabic, Hebrew, Filipino, Ilokano, Bisayan, Subanon, Chinese, Latin, Spanish, Greek, English, French, German, Malay, Sanskrit, Dutch, Japanese, Catalan, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish and Russian — according to historians.

While in Europe, Rizal wrote two novels, which the Spanish colonial government found subversive. His novels had been turned into a number of period movies.

Philippine Hero Jose Rizal

5. EUROPEAN EDUCATION

While in Europe, Rizal committed himself to the reform of Spanish rule in his home country, through peaceful means. He was a passionate writer and published his first novel Noli Me Tangere (Touch me Not/The Social Cancer , 1887), in Berlin. Noli highlighted the evils of Spanish rule in his homeland.

A sequel, El Filibusterismo (1891; The Filibuster/The Reign of Greed ), established his reputation as the leading spokesman of the Philippine reform movement. He also published an annotated edition (1890) of Antonio Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas , hoping to show that the native people of the Philippines had a long history before the coming of the Spaniards.

Rizal’s political reform programme included integration of the Philippines as a province of Spain, representation in the Cortes (the Spanish parliament), the replacement of Spanish friars by Filipino priests, freedom of assembly and expression, and equality of Filipinos and Spaniards before the law.

In 1895, Rizal sought permission to travel to Cuba as an army doctor. His request was approved, but a year later, in August 1896, the armed revolt lead by the Katipunan, a nationalist Filipino society, erupted. Its leader, Andres Bonifacio, took inspiration from the French. Rizal was implicated and jailed. After a show trial, Rizal was convicted of sedition and sentenced to death.

7. EXECUTION

Though José Rizal called for peaceful reform of Spain's colonial rule in the Philippines and abhorred violence in his writings, a colonial court sentenced him to death by musketry. At age 35, Rizal was executed on December 30, 1896 in Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park in Luneta, Manila).

After the execution, Rizal fired up the Philippine nationalist movement. Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo (first president) declared independence on June 12, 1898.

Philippine Hero Jose Rizal

8. RIZAL MONUMENTS

Today, Rizal is one of the most revered of Filipino heroes. His monuments are found in different parts of the world: in Germany, Spain, Australia, Austria, China (Hong Kong, Fujian), Canada, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Japan, UK, US (California, Hawaii, Texas, Illinois, Washington).

Rizal Monuments

The late Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III is seen delivering his message during the unveiling of the five- meter bronze statue of Dr. Jose P. Rizalat the Rizal Park, Rosemeadow, City of Campbelltown, Australia on October 26, 2012.

9. NATIONAL ICON

Rizal’s main monument today stands in Luneta, the main execution spot of Spanish colonial masters enriched by the blood of Filipino martyrs. The Americans, who succeeded Spain in colonising the Philippines (for about 50 years), emphasised Rizal's views on Filipino nationalism rather than those of the more action-oriented Emilio Aguinaldo and Andrés Bonifacio.

Philippine Hero Jose Rizal

At the turn of the 20th century, however, some in the US media portrayed the people of the Philippines as “pirates”, “barbarians”, “savages”, “incapable of civilisation”.

It was the story and poetry of Rizal that "did something to the House (of US Congress) akin to a miracle,” according to Rep. Henry R. Cooper, author of the Philippine Bill of 1902 — also known as the Cooper Act.

This organic act about the Philippines provided for the following: 

  • Extension of the Bill of Rights to Filipinos;
  • Establishment of an elective Philippine Assembly, after the proclamation of peace and two years after the publication of the Philippine census;
  • Appointment of two resident commissioners to represent the Filipino people in Washington;
  • Retention of the Philippine Commission as the upper house of the legislature, with the Philippine Assembly as the lower house; and
  • Conservation of the natural resources of the Philippines for the Filipinos”.

My Last Farewel  is Rizal’s 14-verse valedictory written shortly before he was put to death. It expresses love, unfathomable grief and shows a man with unwavering convictions. His words honoured his homeland (“our Eden lost”), the lost culture of pre-Hispanic Philippines, his parents and friends and points to the injustices he had witnessed at the hands of colonial masters:

“Farewell, dear Fatherland, clime of the sun caressed Pearl of the Orient seas, our Eden lost!

“Gladly now I go to give you this faded life’s best. And were it brighter, fresher, or more blessed, Still would I give it thee, nor count the cost.”

Philippine Hero Jose Rizal

“I die without seeing the dawn brighten over my native land... You who have it to see, welcome it — and forget not those who have fallen during the night.”

“And if colour is lacking my blood you shall take, poured out at need for thy dear sake. To dye with its crimson the waking ray.”

“My dreams, when life first opened to me, My dreams, when the hopes of youth beat high, Were to see thy loved face, O gem of the Orient sea, from gloom and grief, from care and sorrow free; No blush on thy brow, no tear in thine eye.”

“Dream of my life, my living and burning desire, All hail! cries the soul that is now to take flight; All hail! And sweet it is for thee to expire; To die for your sake, that you may aspire; And sleep in thy bosom eternity’s long night.” -

“Dream of my life, my living and burning desire, All hail! cries the soul that is now to take flight; All hail! And sweet it is for thee to expire; To die for your sake, that you may aspire; And sleep in thy bosom eternity’s long night.”

"If over my grave some day you see grow, In the grassy sod, a humble flower, Draw it to thy lips and kiss my soul so, While I may feel on my brow in the cold tomb below, the touch of thy tenderness, thy breath’s warm power.”

“Let the moon beam over me soft and serene, Let the dawn shed over me its radiant flashes, Let the wind with sad lament over me keen; And if on my cross a bird should be seen, Let it trill there its hymn of peace to my ashes.”

“Let the sun draw the vapors up to the sky, And heavenward in purity bear my tardy protest Let some kind soul over my untimely fate sigh, And in the still evening a prayer be lifted on high; From thee, O my country, that in God I may rest.”

“Pray for all those that hapless have died, For all who have suffered the unmeasur'd pain; For our mothers that bitterly their woes have cried, For widows and orphans, for captives by torture tried. And then for thyself that redemption thou mayst gain.”

“And when the dark night wraps the graveyard around, With only the dead in their vigil to see, Break not my repose or the mystery profound, And perchance you may hear a sad hymn resound It is I, O my country, raising a song unto thee.”

Philippine Hero Jose Rizal

“And even my grave is remembered no more, Unmarked by never a cross nor a stone, Let the plow sweep through it, the spade turn it over. That my ashes may carpet earthly floor, Before into nothingness at last they are blown. Then will oblivion bring to me no care, As over your vales and plains I sweep; Throbbing and cleansed in your space and air, With colour and light, with song and lament I fare; Ever repeating the faith that I keep.”

I go where there are no slaves, hangmen or oppressors; where faith does not kill; where the one who reigns is God. - "Mi Ultimo Adios", poem by José Rizal (Translated by Charles Derbyshire, 1897)

“My Fatherland adored, that sadness to my sorrow lends, Beloved Filipinas, hear now my last goodbye! I give you all: parents and kindred and friends."

"I go where there are no slaves, hangmen or oppressors; where faith does not kill; where the one who reigns is God.”

“Farewell to you all, from my soul torn away, Friends of my childhood in the home dispossessed! Give thanks that I rest from the wearisome day! Farewell to thee, too, sweet friend that lightened my way; Beloved creatures all, farewell!”

9"Mi Ultimo Adios". Poem by José Rizal, translated by Charles Derbyshire, 1897).

11. KILOMETRE 0

The remains of Rizal, after exhumation on August 17, 1898, were kept in the Rizal family house in Binondo until they were brought to their final resting place in Luneta. On December 30, 1912, a solemn ceremony was held to finally bury the remains in the base of the monument dedicated in memory of Rizal. The Philippines' main Kilometre 0 is found in Luneta, across the Rizal statue.

Philippine Hero Jose Rizal

An Italian sculptor Carlo Nicoli of Carrara, Italy, won a design contest for the Rizal memorial. Nicoli’s scaled plaster model was titled Al Mártir de Bagumbayan  (To the Martyr of Bagumbayan), besting 40 other accepted entries. Nicoli won the ₱5,000 prize for this design.

12. BRP RIZAL FRIGATE

The naval ship BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150) is the lead ship of her class of guided missile frigates of the Philippine Navy. Built by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and launched in 2019, the 108-metre vessel is the first purpose-built frigate of the service.

Philippine Hero Jose Rizal

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The Life Of Jose Rizal: Philippine Patriot

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  • Philippines
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The Most Important Literary Works by Jose Rizal

Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines

For Dr. José Rizal , the well-respected national hero of the Philippines, “the pen is mightier than the sword.” Through his literary masterpieces, he voiced strong opposition to the abuse of Spaniards and conveyed messages that he hoped would inspire his fellow countrymen. We round up his best works and uncover the underlying meaning behind them.

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To the Filipino Youth

Rizal wrote this literary poem when he was still studying at the University of Sto. Tomas (UST). Originally written in Spanish ( A la juventud filipina), Rizal submitted this piece for a poem contest organized for Filipinos by the Manila Lyceum of Art and Literature. At the age of 18, this work is beaming with strong messages to convince readers, the youth in particular, that they are the hope of the nation. He also stresses the importance of education to one’s future. Rizal won the first prize and was rewarded with a feather-shaped silver pen and a diploma.

Monument in memory of Jose Rizal at Rizal Park

Goodbye to Leonor

This literary piece gives an insight into the romantic relationship of Rizal and his beloved, Leonor Rivera. The two met when in the province of Dagupan when Rivera was only 13-years-old. Rivera’s parents were not in favor of their relationship and though distance separated them, the two kept in touch by sending letters and photographs to each other. Rizal later found out that her lady love would soon tie the knot with Henry Kipping, and the news definitely disheartened him. The lonely, heartbreaking feelings he felt, resulted in this melancholic poem.

To the Young Women of Malolos

Addressed to the Filipino women, Rizal’s letter entitled To The Young Women of Malolos reflects his inheritance and issues reminders to Filipino women. In his letter, he addresses all kinds of Filipino women – mothers, wives, and even the single women. Throughout this literary piece, he highlights the qualities that Filipino mothers should possess, the duties of wives to their husbands and children, and a counsel on how young women should choose their lifetime partners. The idea behind this letter sparked after he was impressed by the women of Malolos who won the battle they fought. Rizal advises women to educate themselves, protect their dignity and honor, and live with good manners – setting up as a role model.

A kundiman traditionally refers to a love song where a man serenades the woman he loves. For scholars, this word was derived from the Tagalog phrase “Kung Hindi man” (if it should not be so) which suggests that people put their faith in a Higher Being who decides whether or not something is meant for them. But in Rizal’s literary work, he wrote a kundiman to profess his intense love for his motherland. This piece reflects his high hopes that one day, the Philippines would be free from treachery and injustice. At the time, the country faced great threats while he was in Europe. And, through this work, he voices his hopeful thoughts despite being far away from the country.

Junto Al Pasig

When translated into English, the title of this work means Beside Pasig River . In response to the Jesuits’ request, Rizal wrote this one-act play in the Spanish language for the velada – a gala variety program during the principal feast days. The play centers around Leonido (a young Filipino who has a strong faith in the Virgin) and the Diwata/Satan, which symbolizes the Spanish oppression towards Filipinos. Its theme highlights Christianity, good vs. evil, and paganism. The Philippines’ national hero wrote it in honor of the Our Lady of Peace and Voyage of the UST, and the play was staged on December 8, 1880.

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Noli Me Tángere

One of the most sought-after books in Philippine literature until today, is Rizal’s famous novel titled Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not). Driven by his undying love for his country, Rizal wrote the novel to expose the ills of Philippine society during the Spanish colonial era. At the time, the Spaniards prohibited the Filipinos from reading the controversial book because of the unlawful acts depicted in the novel. Yet they were not able to ban it completely and as more Filipinos read the book, it opened their eyes to the truth that they were being manhandled by the friars. In this revolutionary book, you’ll learn the story of Crisostomo Ibarra, how he dealt with Spanish authorities, and how he prepared for his revenge, as told in Rizal’s second book, El Filibusterismo.

Noli Me Tángere

El Filibusterismo

This is Rizal’s sequel to his first book, Noli Me Tángere. In El Filibusterismo (The Reign of the Greed), the novel exhibits a dark theme (as opposed to the hopeful atmosphere in the first novel) in which it depicts the country’s issues and how the protagonist attempts a reform. The story takes place 13 years after Noli Me Tángere , where revolutionary protagonist Crisostomo Ibarra is now under the guise of Simoun – a wealthy jewelry tycoon. Because the novel also portrays the abuse, corruption, and discrimination of the Spaniards towards Filipinos, it was also banned in the country at the time. Rizal dedicated his second novel to the GOMBURZA – the Filipino priests named Mariano Gomez, Jose Apolonio Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora who were executed on charges of subversion. The two novels of Rizal, now considered as his literary masterpieces, both indirectly sparked the Philippine Revolution .

Mi último adiós

After being associated with the Katipuneros, Rizal was arrested and later sentenced to death by firing squad for acts of sedition and rebellion. During his final days in Fort Santiago of Manila , Rizal bid farewell to his motherland and countrymen through letters. Mi último adiós or My Last Farewell is one of the few last works that Rizal wrote. Some historical accounts say he wrote it on the eve before his execution, while others claim that he wrote the poem a few days before his death in Manila on December 30, 1896. But, because there was no title ascribed to this poem, his good friend and fellow reformist Mariano Ponce came up with the title. Today, Rizal’s literary works, specifically his two novels, are alive and continuously being analyzed by students and professionals. Colleges and universities in the Philippines even require their students to take a subject which centers around the life and works of Rizal. Through his work, the country’s national hero is always remembered and looked upon with high regard for his contribution towards the Philippine independence.

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  4. Life of a National Hero; Dr Jose P. Rizal

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  1. Who is better? Dr. Jose Rizal or Andres Bonifacio? Write in the Comment

  2. The First Filipino: A Biography of Jose Rizal, by León Ma. Guerrero

  3. LET's Review GenEd Series: Rizal's Life: Higher Education & Life Abroad #joserizal #let

  4. Jose Rizal Biography

COMMENTS

  1. Jose Rizal

    José Rizal was a physician, writer, and leader of the Philippine reform movement against Spanish colonial rule. He wrote novels exposing the evils of Spanish rule, such as Noli me tangere and El filibusterismo, and was executed in 1896.

  2. Short Biography of Jose Rizal, National Hero of the Philippines

    Jose Rizal was a Filipino patriot, physician, and writer who exposed the Spanish colonial rule in his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. He was executed by firing squad in 1896 after a trial for rebellion, sedition, and forming an illegal association.

  3. Jose Rizal

    Jose Rizal - Education, Contribution & Death

  4. José Rizal

    José Rizal was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath who is considered a national hero of the Philippines. He wrote the novels Noli Me Tángere and El filibusterismo, which criticized the Spanish colonial rule, and was executed by the Spanish in 1896.

  5. Jose Rizal Biography

    He was arrested in October 1896 and convicted on charges of sedition, conspiracy and rebellion. He was sentenced to death. His execution was carried out on December 30, 1896 by a squad of Filipino soldiers of the Spanish Army. Jose Rizal was a talented artist and was skilled in sculpting, painting, and sketching.

  6. Jose Rizal, National Hero of the Philippines

    José Rizal was a Filipino intellectual, writer, and physician who inspired the Philippine Revolution against Spain. He was born in 1861, studied in Europe, wrote novels criticizing colonialism, and was executed by the Spanish in 1896.

  7. Jose Rizal

    Jose Rizal was a nationalist, reformer, author, and eye doctor who was executed by the Spanish colonial authorities in 1896. He is considered the Philippines' national hero and the founder of La Liga Filipina, a civic organization that led to the Philippine Revolution.

  8. Jose Rizal

    José Rizal (1861-1896) was a national hero of the Philippines and the first Asian nationalist. He wrote novels criticizing Spanish colonialism, was exiled and executed, and inspired the 1896 revolution against Spain.

  9. Jose Rizal [Biography]

    Learn about the life, achievements and legacy of Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. Find out his full name, languages, professions, imprisonment, exile and death.

  10. The Life and Legacy of José Rizal: National Hero of the Philippines

    Learn about the life and legacy of Dr. José Rizal, a polyglot, ophthalmologist, and writer who resisted the Spanish colonial rule and sparked the Philippine Revolution. Discover his achievements, novels, and final words before his execution in 1896.

  11. Jose Rizal Biography

    Learn about the life, works, and legacy of Jose Rizal, a Filipino polymath and national hero who was born on June 19, 1861. Discover his achievements in medicine, literature, arts, and reform movements against Spanish colonialism.

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  13. 'The major biographies of José Rizal'

    Learn about the life, writings, and legacy of José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. This article summarizes his biography, his major works, and the sources of his biographies.

  14. Jose Rizal: 12 facts you need to know about Philippines' national hero

    Jose Rizal was a polyglot, novelist, and ophthalmologist who advocated non-violent resistance against Spanish colonial rule. He was executed in 1896, but his writings inspired the Philippine ...

  15. José Rizal: Life and Works

    Learn about the life and works of José Rizal, a Filipino intellectual and national hero who fought for his country with his writing. Explore his novels, poems, speeches, and essays that depict the colonial reality and advocate for women's rights.

  16. José Rizal Life Timeline

    Learn about the biography of José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines, from his birth in 1861 to his execution in 1896. See his achievements in education, writing, and emigration, and how he challenged the Spanish colonial rule.

  17. Jose Rizal : Life, Works, and Writings

    A comprehensive biography of the Philippine national hero and writer, Jose Rizal, by Gregorio F. Zaide. The book covers his childhood, education, travels, works, and legacy in 318 pages.

  18. Understanding the Life and Works of Jose Rizal: Module Overview

    The Life and Works of Dr. Jose Rizal Course Overview This course pack is mandated by Republic Act 1425, this course cover the life and works of the country's national hero, Jose Rizal. Among the topics covered are Rizal's biography and his writings, particular the novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, some of his essays, and various correspondences.

  19. The Life Of Jose Rizal: Philippine Patriot : Austin Craig : Free

    The biography of Philippine Patriot, José Rizal. ... the-life-of-jose-rizal-philippine-patriot Identifier-ark ark:/13960/s24nh7g84b6 Location Philippines Ocr tesseract 5.2.0-1-gc42a Ocr_detected_lang en Ocr_detected_lang_conf ... Be the first one to write a review. 217 Views . DOWNLOAD OPTIONS download 1 file ...

  20. Books and Literary Works Written by José Rizal

    Learn about the life and legacy of José Rizal, a Filipino writer, activist, doctor, and martyr. Explore his prolific and diverse body of work, including his famous novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, his poems, plays, musical compositions, speeches, letters, essays, and historical commentaries.

  21. José Rizal

    José Rizal in ₱2 note. José Rizal was born on June 19, 1861 to Francisco Rizal Mercado and Teodora Alonso Realonda y Quintos in the town of Calamba in Laguna province. He had nine sisters and one brother. His parents were leaseholders of a hacienda and an accompanying rice farm held by the Dominicans.Both their families had adopted the additional surnames of Rizal and Realonda in 1849 ...

  22. The Most Important Literary Works by Jose Rizal

    Learn about the eight most important literary works by Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. Find out what he wrote during his time at UST, his poems, novels, and letters that exposed the Spanish colonial abuses and inspired the Filipino revolution.

  23. Biography of Dr. Jose Rizal: Birth, Family, and Family'S Ancestry

    This biography summarizes Jose Rizal's early life and education. Rizal was born in 1861 in Calamba, Laguna to a wealthy family. He had a happy childhood and was educated at home by private tutors before attending Ateneo de Manila University from 1872-1877. At Ateneo, Rizal excelled academically in all subjects. He continued developing his skills in writing, art, and languages. The biography ...

  24. Jose Rizal

    Jose Rizal_a Complete Biography - Free ebook download as Word Doc (.doc), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read book online for free. 1) Jose Rizal was born on June 19, 1861 in Calamba, Laguna, Philippines to Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonzo. He came from a wealthy family that owned large agricultural lands. 2) Rizal was born into a closely-knit family that valued education.