JOSE RIZAL

Portrait of José Rizal, painted by Félix Resurrección Hidalgo

Jose Rizal, a young doctor-writer, is regarded as the father of the Philippines. He criticized the Spanish government in the Philippines in two novels and drummed up nationalist sentiments, but called for peaceful reform under colonial rule. In one of his novels Rizal referred to the Philippines as the "Pearl of the Orient Seas." Rizal was arrested and executed on December 30, 1896 by Spanish officials when he was just 30. He was later recognized by some historians as Asia's first nationalists. His contemporaries include Gandhi and Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Gandhi was reportedly influenced by him.

Rizal was a scholar and scientist, as well as a physician and and writer, and most outstanding member of the Propagandist movement. Born in 1861 into a prosperous Chinese mestizo family in Laguna Province, he displayed great intelligence at an early age. He began learning to read and write at age two and grew up to speak more than 20 languages, including Latin, Greek, German, French, and Chinese. His last words were in Latin: "Consummatum est!" ("It is done!")

After several years of medical study at the University of Santo Tomás, he went to Spain in 1882 to finish his studies at the University of Madrid. During the decade that followed, Rizal's career spanned two worlds: Among small communities of Filipino students in Madrid and other European cities, he became a leader and eloquent spokesman, and in the wider world of European science and scholarship — particularly in Germany — he formed close relationships with prominent natural and social scientists. The new discipline of anthropology was of special interest to him; he was committed to refuting the friars' stereotypes of Filipino racial inferiority with scientific arguments. [Source: Library of Congress *]

Rizal's Impact on the Philippines

Government poster from the 1950s

Jose Rizal’s greatest impact on the development of a Filipino national consciousness was his publication of two novels–“Noli Me Tangere” (“Touch Me Not”) in 1886 and “El Filibusterismo” (“The “Reign of Greed”) in 1891. Rizal drew on his personal experiences and depicted the conditions of Spanish rule in the islands, particularly the abuses of the friars. Although the friars had Rizal's books banned, they were smuggled into the Philippines and rapidly gained a wide readership. *

Rizal’s Austrian friend, Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt, rector of the Imperial Atheneum of Leitmeritz, said "Rizal was the greatest product of the Philippines and his coming to the world was like the appearance of a rare comet, whose rare brilliance appears only every other century." Another friend, the German Dr. Adolf B. Meyer, director of the Dresden Museum admired Rizal’s all around knowledge and ability. He remarked "Rizal’s many-sidedness was stupendous." Our own Dr. Camilo Osias pointed to him as the "versatile genius."

Austin Coates wrote: up: ‘In the history of the Philippines his life is an inescapable moment, a quintessence, a point of national identification—and a challenge to all who seek to emulate him.’ Ultimo Adios On his last night, Rizal wrote a farewell poem which he concealed inside an alcohol lamp that he gave to his sister. Ultimo Adios is the best loved Filipino poem. Every Filipino knows at least the first lines ‘Adios patria adorada ...’ At 35, an eye surgeon, scholar, linguist, painter and sculptor, musician and composer, novelist, certainly a young man of great promise for the race, was martyred, a victim of the filicidal nature of colonialism. No other Filipino claims as much respect and affection for his selfless exemplary life. [Source: “Culture Shock!: Philippines” by Alfredo Roces and Grace Roces, Marshall Cavendish International, 2010]

Mercado-Rizal Family

The Rizals were considered one of the biggest families during their time. Domingo Lam-co, the family's paternal ascendant was a full-blooded Chinese who came to the Philippines from Amoy, China in the closing years of the 17th century and married a half-Filipino-half-Chinese woman by the name of Ines de la Rosa. Researchers have revealed that the Mercado-Rizal family had also traces of Japanese, Spanish, Malay and Even Negrito blood aside from Chinese. [Source: Jose Rizal University ]

Rizal's family

Jose Rizal came from a 13-member family consisting of his parents, Francisco Mercado II and Teodora Alonso Realonda, and nine sisters and one brother. Francisco Mercado (1818-1898), father of Jose Rizal, was the youngest of 13 offsprings of Juan and Cirila Mercado. Born in Biñan, Laguna on April 18, 1818, he studied at San Jose College, Manila; and died in Manila. Teodora Alonso (1827-1913), the mother of Jose Rizal, was the second child of Lorenzo Alonso and Brijida de Quintos. She studied at the Colegio de Santa Rosa. She was a business-minded woman, courteous, religious, hard-working and well-read. She was born in Santa Cruz, Manila on November 14, 1827 and died in 1913 in Manila.

Jose Rizal (1861-1896) was the second son and the seventh child of 11 children. Jose Rizal’s brothers and sisters: 1) Saturnina Rizal (1850-1913), eldest child of the Rizal-Alonzo marriage, Married Manuel Timoteo Hidalgo of Tanauan, Batangas; 2) Paciano Rizal (1851-1930), only brother of Jose Rizal and the second child, studied at San Jose College in Manila, became a farmer and later a general of the Philippine Revolution; 3) Narcisa Rizal (1852-1939), the third child. married Antonio Lopez at Morong, Rizal, a teacher and musician. 4) Olympia Rizal (1855-1887), the fourth child, married Silvestre Ubaldo, died in 1887 from childbirth; 5) Lucia Rizal (1857-1919), the fifth child, married Matriano Herbosa; 6) Maria Rizal (1859-1945), the sixth child, married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan, Laguna. 7) Concepcion Rizal (1862-1865), the eight child, died at the age of three; 8) Josefa Rizal (1865-1945), the ninth child, an epileptic, died a spinster. 9) Trinidad Rizal (1868-1951), the tenth child, died a spinster and the last of the family to die; 10) Soledad Rizal (1870-1929), the youngest child married Pantaleon Quin.

Jose Rizal’s Early Life

Jose Rizal was born on June 19, 1861, in the town of Calamba, Laguna. He was the seventh child in a family of 11 children (2 boys and 9 girls). Three days after his birth he was baptized Jose Rizal Mercado at the Catholic of Calamba by the parish priest Rev. Rufino Collantes with Rev. Pedro Casañas as the sponsor. In September 1862, the parochial church of Calamba and the canonical books, including the book in which Rizal’s baptismal records were entered, were burned. Both his parents were educated and belonged to distinguished families. His father, Francisco Mercado Rizal, an industrious farmer whom Rizal called "a model of fathers," came from Biñan, Laguna; while his mother, Teodora Alonzo y Quintos, a highly cultured and accomplished woman whom Rizal called "loving and prudent mother," was born in Meisic, Sta. Cruz, Manila. [Source: Teofilo H. Montemayor, Jose Rizal University; Jose Rizal University ++]

Rizal'sSchool in Biñan

At the age of 3, he learned the alphabet from his mother; at 5, while learning to read and write, he already showed inclinations to be an artist. He astounded his family and relatives by his pencil drawings and sketches and by his moldings of clay. At the age 8, he wrote a Tagalog poem, "Sa Aking Mga Kabata," the theme of which revolves on the love of one’s language. Around this time Jose’s father hired a classmate to teach Jose the rudiments of Latin and two of his mother’s cousins frequented Calamba. Uncle Manuel Alberto, seeing Jose frail in body, concerned himself with the physical development of his young nephew and taught the latter love for the open air and developed in him a great admiration for the beauty of nature, while Uncle Gregorio, a scholar, instilled into the mind of the boy love for education. He advised Rizal: "Work hard and perform every task very carefully; learn to be swift as well as thorough; be independent in thinking and make visual pictures of everything." ++

In June 1868, with his father, Jose Rizal made a pilgrimage to Antipolo to fulfill the vow made by his mother to take the child to the Shrine of the Virgin of Antipolo should she and her child survive the ordeal of delivery which nearly caused his mother’s life. In Antipolo he prayed, kneeling before the image of the Virgin of Peace and Good Voyage, of whom he would later sing in elegant verses. From Antipolo he proceeded to Manila, the great metropolis, with its Chinese stores and European bazaars, and visited his elder sister Saturnina, in Santa Ana, who was a boarding student in the Concordia College. ++

Jose had a very vivid imagination and a very keen sense of observation. On the trip to Antipolo he traveled in a casco, a very ponderous vessel commonly used in the Philippines. It was the first trip in a boat that Jose could recollect. As darkness fell he spent the hours by the katig, admiring the grandeur of the water and the stillness of the night, although he was seized with a superstitious fear when he saw a water snake entwine itself around the bamboo beams of the katig. With what joy did he see the sun at the daybreak as its luminous rays shone upon the glistening surface of the wide lake, producing a brilliant effect! With what joy did he talk to his father, for he had not uttered a word during the night! ++

Jose Rizal’s Early Education at Home in Calamba

Rizal had his early education in Calamba and Biñan. It was a typical schooling that a son of an ilustrado family received during his time, characterized by the four R’s- reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion. Instruction was rigid and strict. Knowledge was forced into the minds of the pupils by means of the tedious memory method aided by the teacher’s whip. Despite the defects of the Spanish system of elementary education, Rizal was able to acquire the necessary instruction preparatory for college work in Manila. It may be said that Rizal, who was born a physical weakling, rose to become an intellectual giant not because of, but rather in spite of, the outmoded and backward system of instruction obtaining in the Philippines during the last decades of Spanish regime. [Source: Teofilo H. Montemayor, Jose Rizal University; Jose Rizal University ++]

11-years-old Rizal when he was a student at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila

The first teacher of Rizal was his mother, who was a remarkable woman of good character and fine culture. On her lap, he learned at the age of three the alphabet and the prayers. "My mother," wrote Rizal in his student memoirs, "taught me how to read and to say haltingly the humble prayers which I raised fervently to God." As tutor, Doña Teodora was patient, conscientious, and understanding. It was she who first discovered that her son had a talent for poetry. Accordingly, she encouraged him to write poems. To lighten the monotony of memorizing the ABC’s and to stimulate her son’s imagination, she related many stories. ++

As Jose grew older, his parents employed private tutors to give him lessons at home. The first was Maestro Celestino and the second, Maestro Lucas Padua. Later, an old man named Leon Monroy, a former classmate of Rizal’s father, became the boy’s tutor. This old teacher lived at the Rizal home and instructed Jose in Spanish and Latin. Unfortunately, he did not live long. He died five months later. ++

Jose Rizal Heads Off to School in Biñan

After a Monroy’s death, when Jose Rizal was nine, his parents decided to send their gifted son to a private school in Biñan. One Sunday afternoon in June, 1869, Jose, after kissing the hands of his parents and a tearful parting from his sister, left Calamba for Biñan. He was accompanied by Paciano, who acted as his second father. Oh, how it saddened Jose to leave for the first time and live far from his home and his family! But he felt ashamed to cry and had to conceal his tears and sentiments. "O Shame," he explained, "how many beautiful and pathetic scenes the world would witness without thee!" [Source: Teofilo H. Montemayor, Jose Rizal University; Jose Rizal University ++]

The two brothers rode in a carromata, reaching their destination after one and one-half hours’ drive. They proceeded to their aunt’s house, where Jose was to lodge. It was almost night when they arrived, and the moon was about to rise. At night, in company with his aunt’s grandson named Leandro, Jose took a walk around the town in the light of the moon. To him the town looked extensive and rich but sad and ugly. He became depressed because of homesickness. "In the moonlight," he recounted, "I remembered my home town, my idolized mother, and my solicitous sisters. Ah, how sweet to me was Calamba, my own town, in spite of the fact that was not as wealthy as Biñan." ++

Jose Rizal’s Early Education in Biñan

The next morning (Monday) Paciano brought his younger brother to the school of Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz. The school was in the house of the teacher, which was a small nipa hut about 30 meters from the home of Jose’s aunt. Paciano knew the teacher quite well because he had been a pupil under him before. He introduced Jose to the teacher, after which he departed to return to Calamba. [Source: Teofilo H. Montemayor, Jose Rizal University; Jose Rizal University ++]

Immediately, Jose was assigned his seat in the class. The teacher asked him: "Do you know Spanish?" "A little, sir," replied the Calamba lad. "Do you know Latin?" "A little, sir." The boys in the class, especially Pedro, the teacher’s son laughed at Jose’s answers. The teacher sharply stopped all noises and begun the lessons of the day. Jose described his teacher in Biñan as follows: "He was tall, thin, long-necked, with sharp nose and a body slightly bent forward, and he used to wear a sinamay shirt, woven by the skilled hands of the women of Batangas. He knew by the heart the grammars by Nebrija and Gainza. Add to this severity that in my judgement was exaggerated and you have a picture, perhaps vague, that I have made of him, but I remember only this." ++

Rizal as a student at the University of Santo Tomas

His teacher in Biñan, Justiniano Aquino Cruz, was a severe disciplinarian. "He was a tall man, lean and long-necked, with a sharp nose and a body slightly bent forward. He used to wear a sinamay shirt woven by the deft hands of Batangas women. He knew by memory the grammars of Nebrija and Gainza. To this add a severity which, in my judgement I have made of him, which is all I remember." ++

The boy Jose distinguished himself in class, and succeeded in surpassing many of his older classmates. Some of these were so wicked that, even without reason, they accused him before the teacher, for which, in spite of his progress, he received many whippings and strokes from the ferule. Rare was the day when he was not stretched on the bench for a whipping or punished with five or six blows on the open palm. Jose’s reaction to all these punishments was one of intense resentment in order to learn and thus carry out his father’s will. ++

While he was studying in Biñan, he returned to his hometown now and then. How long the road seemed to him in going and how short in coming! When from afar he descried the roof of his house, secret joy filled his breast. How he looked for pretexts to remain longer at home! A day more seemed to him a day spent in heaven, and how he wept, though silently and secretly, when he saw the calesa that was flower that him Biñan! Then everything looked sad; a flower that he touched, a stone that attracted his attention he gathered, fearful that he might not see it again upon his return. It was a sad but delicate and quite pain that possessed him. ++

Stories from Jose Rizal’s School Days in Biñan

In the afternoon of his first day in school, when the teacher was having his siesta, Jose met the bully, Pedro. He was angry at this bully for making fun of him during his conversation with the teacher in the morning. Jose challenged Pedro to a fight. The latter readily accepted, thinking that he could easily beat the Calamba boy who was smaller and younger. The two boys wrestled furiously in the classroom, much to the glee of their classmates. Jose, having learned the art of wrestling from his athletic Tio Manuel, defeated the bigger boy. For this feat, he became popular among his classmates. After the class in the afternoon, a classmate named Andres Salandanan challenged him to an arm-wrestling match. They went to a sidewalk of a house and wrestled with their arms. Jose, having the weaker arm, lost and nearly cracked his head on the sidewalk. In succeeding days he had other fights with the boys of Biñan. He was not quarrelsome by nature, but he never ran away from a fight. [Source: Teofilo H. Montemayor, Jose Rizal University; Jose Rizal University ++]

In academic studies, Jose beat all Biñan boys. He surpassed them all in Spanish, Latin, and other subjects. Some of his older classmates were jealous of his intellectual superiority. They wickedly squealed to the teacher whenever Jose had a fight outside the school, and even told lies to discredit him before the teacher’s eyes. Consequently the teacher had to punish Jose. ++

Jose spent his leisure hours with Justiniano’s father-in-law, a master painter. From him he took his first two sons, two nephews, and a grandson. His way life was methodical and well regulated. He heard mass at four if there was one that early, or studied his lesson at that hour and went to mass afterwards. Returning home, he might look in the orchard for a mambolo fruit to eat, then he took his breakfast, consisting generally of a plate of rice and two dried sardines. After that he would go to class, from which he was dismissed at ten, then home again. He ate with his aunt and then began at ten, then home again. He ate with his aunt and then began to study. At half past two he returned to class and left at five. He might play for a short time with some cousins before returning home. He studied his lessons, drew for a while, and then prayed and if there was a moon, his friends would invite him to play in the street in company with other boys. Whenever he remembered his town, he thought with tears in his eyes of his beloved father, his idolized mother, and his solicitous sisters. Ah, how sweet was his town even though not so opulent as Biñan! He grew sad and thoughtful. ++

Jose Rizal’s Later Education

José Rizal earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from the Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1877 at age 16. That same year, he studied Philosophy and Letters at the University of Santo Tomas while also completing training as a surveyor at Ateneo. Although he passed the surveyor’s examination in 1878, he was not licensed to practice until 1881 because he was underage. In 1878, he began studying medicine at the University of Santo Tomas but left due to discrimination against Filipino students. [Source: Teofilo H. Montemayor, Jose Rizal University; Jose Rizal University]

In 1882, Rizal traveled to Spain to continue his education at the Universidad Central de Madrid. There, he completed his Licentiate in Medicine in June 1884 and finished his degree in Philosophy and Letters in 1885, both with high marks. His diary entries from 1883–1884 describe his academic work, examinations, financial struggles, artistic pursuits, participation in student activities, and involvement with fellow Filipinos in Madrid.

In June 1884, after completing his medical degree, Rizal delivered a speech honoring Filipino painters Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, celebrating Luna’s award-winning painting Spoliarium at the Madrid Exposition. During this period, Rizal also remained concerned about family matters and the health of Leonor Rivera, reflecting both his academic achievements and personal struggles while abroad.

Jose Rizal’s Philosophies in Life

José Rizal developed his life philosophy from witnessing Spanish abuses and the poor social conditions in the Philippines. He believed the country’s backwardness was not due to Filipino indolence, as Spanish authorities claimed, but to colonial neglect and oppression. These experiences shaped his determination to reform society and eliminate social ills such as inferiority, ignorance, and moral decay. [Source: Teofilo H. Montemayor, Jose Rizal University; Jose Rizal University]

In education, Rizal viewed learning as the foundation of national progress. He argued that proper education would develop intelligence, dignity, and civic responsibility, ultimately freeing the country from domination. Religiously, although raised Catholic, he embraced a faith guided by reason and truth. He criticized abuses by friars, rejected exclusivist doctrines and superstitions, and opposed the use of religion for exploitation.

Politically, Rizal believed colonized nations should be prepared for self-government rather than oppressed. He condemned forced labor, military conscription, censorship, and the suppression of rights, advocating reforms, human rights, and the cultivation of national consciousness. Ethically, he emphasized moral responsibility, justice, family respect, and appealing to humanity’s better nature to correct wrongdoing.

Socially, Rizal focused on nation-building, social justice, reform, youth development, and the future of the Philippines. His philosophy centered on uplifting society through reason, virtue, education, and collective progress, guiding his lifelong effort to improve his country.

Rizal's First Trip Abroad

On May 3, 1882, José Rizal secretly left the Philippines for Spain using the name Jose Mercado. After stops in Singapore, Ceylon, Aden, the Suez Canal, Naples, and Marseilles, he arrived in Barcelona and later Madrid, where he enrolled at the Universidad Central de Madrid to continue his medical studies. During his voyage and early months abroad, he recorded observations, homesickness, and symbolic dreams reflecting his anxieties about leaving his family. [Source: Teofilo H. Montemayor, Jose Rizal University; Jose Rizal University]

In Spain, Rizal became active in Filipino circles, wrote articles such as “Amor Patrio,” and participated in meetings of the Circulo Hispano-Filipino. He pursued his medical education while also engaging in literary and reformist activities. In 1883, he spent time in Paris observing advanced hospitals and medical techniques before returning to Madrid to continue his studies. He reacted strongly to news of injustices in the Philippines, including arrests and disease outbreaks, which deepened his nationalist convictions.

crayon portrait of Leonor Rivera by José Rizal

By 1885, Rizal expanded his studies to France and Germany, specializing in ophthalmology. He trained under leading doctors in Paris and later moved to Heidelberg, Germany, where he continued his medical and intellectual pursuits. His European stay, marked by academic growth, political awareness, and cultural exposure, lasted several more years and greatly shaped his development as a reformer. Check Out www.joserizal.ph

Women in Jose Rizal’s Life

At least nine women were closely associated with José Rizal: Segunda Katigbak, Leonor Valenzuela, Leonor Rivera, Consuelo Ortiga y Rey, O-Sei San, Gertrude Beckett, Nellie Boustead, Suzanne Jacoby, and Josephine Bracken. Many were believed to have been captivated by his intellect, refinement, and engaging personality. [Source: Teofilo H. Montemayor, Jose Rizal University; Jose Rizal University]

Segunda Katigbak was Rizal’s youthful first love, but she was already engaged to Manuel Luz, which ended his early romance. After Segunda came Leonor Valenzuela of Pagsanjan, to whom Rizal sent affectionate letters written in invisible ink, readable only when held over a flame. Before departing for Spain, he visited Leonor to bid her a final farewell.

Leonor Rivera was Rizal’s sweetheart for eleven years and the woman who most deeply influenced him. Their long-distance relationship suffered because her mother disapproved of Rizal, who was suspected of subversive activities. She intercepted his letters, leading Leonor to believe she had been forgotten. Eventually, she agreed to marry Henry Kipping, an Englishman favored by her family.

Consuelo Ortiga y Rey , one of Don Pablo Ortiga’s daughters in Madrid, developed mutual affection with Rizal. He dedicated to her the poem A la Señorita C.O. y R. Though their friendship grew warmer, Rizal withdrew to remain faithful to Leonor Rivera and to preserve his friendship with Eduardo de Lete, who also admired Consuelo.

O-Sei San, the daughter of a Japanese samurai, became close to Rizal during his stay in Japan. She taught him the art of su-mie painting and helped him learn Japanese. Although he might have chosen a peaceful life with her, even being offered employment by the Spanish legation, Rizal ultimately chose to continue his patriotic mission.

Gertrude Beckett met Rizal while he was in London annotating Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas and staying near the British Museum. She developed deep feelings for him and assisted him in his artistic pursuits. To prevent her attachment from growing stronger, Rizal quietly left for Paris, leaving behind a carved sculpture of Gertrude and her sisters as a remembrance.

Josephine Bracken was Rizal's common-law wife whom he reportedly married shortly before his execution.

Nellie Boustead grew close to Rizal during his stay in Biarritz. Their relationship nearly resulted in marriage, but it failed due to religious differences and her family’s objections. A misunderstanding involving Antonio Luna even led Rizal to challenge him to a duel, though it was peacefully resolved. Rizal and Nellie eventually parted on friendly terms.

Suzanne Jacoby met Rizal in Brussels, where he stayed at her family’s boarding house. Over time, she developed strong feelings for him. When Rizal left Brussels, Suzanne was deeply saddened and continued writing to him afterward.

Josephine Bracken. Josephine Bracken met Rizal in Dapitan when she accompanied her adoptive father, George Taufer, for medical treatment. Despite suspicion from Rizal’s family and opposition from church authorities, their relationship deepened. Unable to secure a church wedding without a demanded retraction, they lived as husband and wife. Their union endured hardship, including the loss of their child, and she remained his last companion.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Library of Congress, Philippines Department of Tourism, Philippines government websites, Encyclopedia.com, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wikipedia, “Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 5: East/Southeast Asia:” edited by Paul Hockings, 1993, UNESCO, National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) the official government agency for culture in the Philippines), Lonely Planet Guides, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, The Conversation, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Google AI, and various websites, books and other publications.

Last updated February 2026