The Birth of a Hero

 Born in Calamba, Laguna Province.

 June 22, 1862 – he was baptized in the Catholic church of his town at the age of 3.
 Father Rufino Collantes – baptized Rizal.

 Father Pedro Casañas – Rizal’s godfather.

 Mariano Herbosa – nephew of Casañas who will marry Lucia (Rizal’s sister).
 Narciso Claveria – On the 21st of November 1849, the Governor General of the
Philippines, Don Narciso Claveria y Zaldua, issued a law (thereafter called the
Claveria Decree) requiring Filipinos to adopt Spanish AND indigenous names
from the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos for civil and legal purposes

 Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda – full name of Jose Rizal.
 Lieutenant-General Jose Lemary – governor general of the Philippines when Rizal
was born.
Family of Rizal

Francisco Mercado
Don Francisco Rizal Mercado was born on May 11, 1818 and was the
youngest of his 13 siblings. Mercado was a well respected man in their
home town of Calamba in which citizens made him the their "cabeza de
barangay" (head of town.) He was of part Chinese descent, having been
related to a Chinese entrepreneur by the name of Domingo Lamco.
Mercado die shortly after Rizal in the home of his daughter, Narcisa Rizal
in Binondo, Manila on January 5, 1898.

Teodora Alonso
Dona Teodora Alonso was born on November 14, 1827 in Santa Cruz
Manila. Her parents were Lorenzo Alonso, a municipal captain and
Brijida de Quintos, an educated housewife and had four other siblings . It
is said that her great grandfather, Eugenio Ursua was of Japanese
ancestry making her of Japanese descent. When Teodora was 20 years old,
she married Francisco Mercado, a native from Binan, Laguna. Together
they prospered in Calamba after involving themselves in business
and agriculture. She was known to be a hardworking, intelligent, business
minded woman. She died in 1913 in Manila.

Saturnina Hidalgo
Saturnina Mercado Rizal Hidalgo was born in 1818 and was the eldest
sister of Jose Rizal. She had five children together with husband Manuel T.
Hidalgo and died the same year as her mother in 1913.
Paciano Rizal
General Paciano Mercado Rizal aka "Lolo Ciano" was the only brother of
Jose Rizal. He was born in 1851 and studied in Binan later attending
school at the Colegio de San Jose in Manila. After the execution of his
brother, he joined in the Philippine Revolution where he rose up to the
ranks of a General. He later married Severina Decena of Los Banos and
had two children of which one died at an early age. Paciano passed away
in 1930.

Narcisa Rizal
Narcisa Rizal Lopez was born in 1852 and was the one who found the
unmarked grave of her brother, Jose in the abandoned Old Paco
Cemetery. Narcisa married Antonio Lopez who was a teacher and
musician from Morong, Rizal. She died in 1938.

Olympia Rizal
Olympia Rizal Ubaldo was born in 1855. She married Silvestre Ubaldo
and together they had three children. She died in 1887 when she was only
32 years old.

Lucia Rizal
Lucia Rizal Herbosa was born in 1857. She married Mariano Herbosa
and had 5 children together. In 1889 Mariano died due to an epidemic but
was denied a Christian burial. This was due to the fact that he was the
brother in law of Jose Rizal. This showed the beginning of the persecution
of the Rizal family by Spanish friars. Lucia died in 1919.
Maria Rizal
Maria Cruz Rizal was born in 1855. She married Daniel Faustino Cruz
of Binan, Laguna and together they had 5 children. Mauricio Cruz, one of
Maria's children became a student of Jose Rizal in Dapitan and was
known to be one of his uncle's favorites. Maria was a known recipient of
many od Jose's letters during his lifetime. Maria died in 1945.

José Rizal
José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was born in June 19,
1861 and died December 30, 1896 was a Filipino
nationalist and polymath during the tail end of the Spanish colonial
period of the Philippines. He is tagged as the national hero (pambansang
bayani) of the Filipino people. An ophthalmologist by profession, Rizal
became a writer and a key member of the Filipino Propaganda
Movement which advocated political reforms for the colony under Spain.

Concepcion Rizal
Concepcion Rizal was born in 1862. Concepcion did not live very long
as she died at the age of 3 in 1865.

Josefa Rizal
Josefa Rizal was born in 1865. She was unmarried lived together with
sister Trinidad until death. Josefa was said to have suffered from
epilepsy. She died in 1945.
Trinidad Rizal
Trinidad Rizal was born in 1868. She remained unmarried and lived
together with her sister Josefa. Trinidad was the one who recieved an
alcohol lamp from brother Jose, in which he secretly hid the "Last
Farewell" better known as "Mi Ultimos Adios," a poem Rizal wrote on
the eve of his death in 1896. Trinidad died in 1951, outliving all her
siblings.

Soledad Rizal
Soledad Rizal Quintero was born in 1870 making her the youngest of the
Rizal siblings. She married Pantaleon Quintero and together they had 5
children. Soledad died in 1929.

The Rizal Home

 A 2-storey building, rectangular in shape, built of adobe stones and hardwoods,
and roofed with red tiles.
 Behind the house were poultry yard full of turkeys and chickens, and a big garden
of tropical fruit trees.
Rizal’s Ancestry

 Paternal Side
- Domingo Lamco – great-great grandfather of Rizal; a Chinese immigrant from
Changchow; he was married to a Chinese Christian girl of Manila named Ines
de la Rosa
- 1731 – he adopt the name Mercado meaning Market
- Francisco Mercado – Domingo Lamco’s son; married Cirila Bernacha.
- Juan Mercado – Francisco’s son married to Cirila Alejandro.
- Francisco Mercado – youngest son of Juan Mercado; Rizal’s father.

 Maternal Side
- Lakan Dula – descendant; last native king of Tondo.
- Eugenio Ursua – great-great grandfather of Rizal; Japanese married to a
Filipina named Benigna.
- Regina – daughter of Eugenio, married Manuel de Quintos (Filipino-Chinese
lawyer).
- Brigida – daughter of Regina who married Lorenzo Alberto Alonso (Spanish-
Filipino mestizo).

Meanings of Rizal’s Names

- Jose – chosen by his mother who was a devotee of the Christian saint San Jose
(St. Joseph).
- Protacio – from Gervacio P. which came from a Christian calendar.
- Mercado – adopted in 1731 by Domingo Lamco (the paternal great-great
grandfather of Jose Rizal). The Spanish term “Mercado” means “market” in
English.
- Rizal – in Spanish means a field where wheat, cut while still green, sprouts
again.
- Y – and
- Alonzo – old surname of his mother.
- Realonda – used by Doña Teodora from the surname of her godmother.
Calamba, the Hero’s town
 Calamba
- Natal town of Rizal.
- Named after a big native jar.
- Happiest period of Rizal’s life was spent in this lakeshore town, a worthy
prelude to his Hamlet-like tragic manhood.
- Hacienda town which belonged to the Dominican Order.
- Picturesque town nestling on a verdant plain covered with irrigated rice
fields and sugar lands.
- A few kilometers to the south looms of the legendary Mt. Makiling and
beyond this mountain is the province of Batangas.
- East of the town is the Laguna de Bay.

 Un Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo (In Memory of My Town)

- A poem written by Rizal in 1876 when he was 15 years old and a student of
Ateneo de Manila.

Earliest Childhood Memories

 The first memory of Rizal, in his infancy, was his happy days in the family garden
when he was 3 years old. He was given the tenderest care by his parents because
he was frail, sickly, and undersized.
 His father built a little nipa cottage in the garden for him to play in the daytime.
 An aya (nurse maid), a kind old woman, was employed to look after him.
 He watched from the cottage, the culiauan, maya, maria capra, & martin pitpit
and other birds and listened with “wonder and joy” to the twilight songs.
 The daily Angelus prayer.
 The happy moonlit nights at the azotea after the nightly Rosary.
 The imaginary tales told by the aya aroused Rizal’s interest in legends and
folklore.
 The aya would threaten Rizal with asuang, nuno, tigbalang, or a terrible bearded
and turbaned Bombay would come to take him away if he would not eat his supper.
 The nocturnal walk in the town esp. when there was a moon with his aya by the
river.’

The Hero’s First Sorrow

 Death of Little Concha (Concepcion)
- “When I was four years old,” he said, “I lost my little sister Concha, and
then for the first time I shed tears caused by love and grief…”
Devoted Son of the Church
 Young Rizal is a religious boy. He grew up a good Catholic.
 At the age of 3, he began to take part in the family prayer. His mother taught him
the Catholic Prayers.
 5 years old, he was able to read the Spanish family bible.

 He was so seriously devout that he was laughingly called Manong Jose by the
Hermanos & Hermanas Terceras.
 Father Leoncio Lopez, town priest, one of the men he esteemed & respected in
Calamba during his boyhood.

Pilgrimage to Antipolo

 June 06, 1868. Jose and his father left Calamba to go on a pilgrimage to Antipolo.

 First trip of Jose across Laguna de Bay and his first pilgrimage to Antipolo. They
rode in a Casco (barge)
 He was awed by “The magnificence of the water expanse and the silence of the
night”.
 After praying at the shrine of the Virgin of Antipolo, Jose and his father went to
Manila and visited Saturnina, who was then a boarding student at La Concordia
College in Santa Ana.

The Story of the Moth

 The story of the moth and the flame was told to Rizal by his mother on a night
when her mother was teaching him how to read a book entitled “The Children’s
Friend” (El Amigos de los Niños)

 His mother grew impatient of his poor reading and lack of focus and always
straying his eyes on the flame of the lamp and the cheerful moths surrounding it.
Knowing his interest to stories, his mother decided to stop teaching him and
instead read him an interesting story.
 Upon hearing the story, it gave a deep impression on Rizal. However, it’s not the
story’s moral that truly struck him, he actually envied the moths and their fate and
considered that the light was so fine a thing that it was worth dying for.

Artistic Talents
 Age 5, started making sketches with his pencil and to mold in clay and wax objects
which attracted his fancy.
 A religious banner was always used during fiesta and it was spoiled; Rizal painted
in oil colors a new banner that delighted the town folks.
 Jose had the soul of a genuine artist.
 Age 6, his sisters laughed at him for spending so much time making those images
rather than participating in their games. He told them “All right laugh at me now!
Someday when I die, people will make monuments and images of me!”

First Poem by Rizal

 Age 8, Rizal wrote his first poem in the native language entitled “Sa Aking Mga
Kabata” (To My Fellow Children). He wrote it in an appeal to our people to love
our national language.

First Drama by Rizal

 Age 8, Rizal wrote his first dramatic work which was a Tagalog Comedy. It was
staged in a Calamba festival.
 A gobernadorcillo from Paete purchased the manuscript for 2 pesos.

Rizal as Boy Magician

 He learned various tricks such as making a coin appear and disappear in his
fingers and making a handkerchief vanish in thin air.
 Entertained his town folks with magic-lantern exhibitions. This consisted of an
ordinary lamp casting its shadow on white screen.
 Also gained skill in manipulating marionettes.
 In Chapter XVII and XVIII of his second novel, El Filibusterismo, he revealed his
wide knowledge of magic.
Lakeshore Reveries
 Rizal used to meditate at the shore of Laguna de Bay, accompanied by his pet dog,
on the sad conditions of his oppressed people.
 He wrote to his friend, Mariano Ponce: “In view of these injustices and cruelties,
although yet a child, my imagination was awakened and I made a vow dedicating
myself someday to avenge the many victims. With this idea in my mind, I studied,
and this is seen in all my writings. Someday God will give me the opportunity to
fulfill my promise.”

Influences in the Hero’s Boyhood

 Hereditary Influence - inherent qualities which a person inherits from his
ancestors and parents.
- Malayan Ancestors - love for freedom, desire to travel, and indomitable courage.
- Chinese Ancestors - serious nature, frugality, patience, and love for children.
- Spanish Ancestors - elegance of bearing, sensitivity to insult, and gallantry to
ladies.
- Father - sense of self-respect, love for work, and habit of independent thinking.
- Mother - religious nature, spirit of self-sacrifice, passion for arts and literature.

 Environmental Influence - environment, as well as heredity, affects the nature of a

person; includes places, associates, & events.
- Calamba and the garden of the Rizal family - stimulated the inborn artistic and
literary talents of Jose Rizal.
- Religious atmosphere at his home - fortified his religious nature.
- Paciano - love of freedom and justice.
- Sisters - to be courteous and kind to women.
- Fairy tales told by his aya - interest in folklores and legends.
- 3 Uncles: Tio Jose Alberto - artistic ability, who studied 11 years in a British
school in Calcutta, India; Tio Manuel - develop his frail body by means of physical
exercises including horse riding, walking, and wrestling; Tio Gregorio - Rizal’s
voracious reading of good books.
- Father Leoncio Lopez - fostered Rizal’s love for scholarship and intellectual
honesty.
- The sorrows in his family contributed for Rizal to strengthen his character.
- The Spanish abuses and cruelties he witnessed awakened Rizal’s spirit of
patriotism and inspired him to consecrate his life and talents to redeem his
oppressed people.

 Aid of Divine Providence

- A person cannot attain greatness in the annals of the nation despite having
everything life (brains, wealth, and power) without this.
- Rizal was providentially destined to be the pride and glory of his nation;
endowed by God with versatile gifts of a genius, vibrant spirit of a nationalist, and
the valiant heart to sacrifice for a noble cause.
The Hero’s First Teacher
 Doña Teodora, his mother, was his first teacher.
 Private tutors: Maestro Celestino (first tutor) and Maestro Lucas Padua (second
tutor). Leon Monroy, a former classmate of Rizal’s father, became the hero’s tutor
in Spanish and Latin.

Jose Goes to Biñan

 After Monroy’s death, Rizal’s parents decided to send him to a private school in
Biñan.
 June 1869. Jose left Calamba for Biñan with Paciano.
 Carromata – their mode of transportation.

First Day in Biñan School

 Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz – owner and teacher of the school.

 Rizal described Maestro Justiniano as “tall, thin, long-necked, and sharp-nosed

with a body slightly bent forward.

First School Brawl

 Jose challenged Pedro to a fight and he won having learned the art of wrestling
from his athletic Tio Manuel.
 Andres Salandaan challenged Rizal to an arm-wrestling match. Jose, having the
weaker arm, lost and nearly cracked his head on sidewalk.
Painting Lessons in Biñan
 Old Juancho, father-in-law of the school teacher, freely gave Jose painting
lessons.
 Jose Rizal and his classmate Jose Guevarra became apprentices of the old painter.

Best Student in School

 Jose surpassed his classmates in Spanish, Latin, and other subjects.
 His older classmates were jealous and wickedly squealed to the teacher whenever
he had fights.
 Jose usually received five or six blows while laid out on a bench from his teacher.

End of Biñan Schooling

 December 17, 1870 – Jose left Biñan using the steamer Talim for Calamba.

 Arturo Camps – Frenchman and friend of his father who took care of him during
his trip.

Martyrdom of Gom-Bur-Za
 January 20, 1872 – Cavite Mutiny.

 February 17, 1872 – Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora
were implicated and executed.
 The GOMBURZA were leaders of the secularization movement.
 The martyrdom of the 3 priests inspired Rizal to fight the evils of Spanish tyranny.
 Paciano quit his studies at the College of San Jose and returned to Calamba,
where he told the heroic story of Burgos to Rizal.
In 1891, Rizal dedicated his second novel El Filibusterismo to GOMBURZA.

Injustice to the Hero’s Mother

 In 1872, Doña Teodora was arrested on a malicious charge that she aided his
brother Jose Alberto in trying to poison his wife.
 Jose Alberto planned to divorce his wife because of her infidelity. His wife
connived with the Spanish lieutenant of the Guardia Civil and filed a case against
Rizal’s mother.
 Antonio Vivencio del Rosario – gobernadorcillo of Calamba, helped the lieutenant
arrest Doña Teodora.
 50 kilometers – Doña Teodora was made to walk from Calamba to the provincial
prison in Santa Cruz.
 Don Francisco de Mercaida and Don Manuel Marzan – most famous lawyers of
Manila, defended Doña Teodora in court.
Jose was sent to Manila four months after the Martyrdom of
GomBurZa and with Doña Teodora still in prison. He studied in
the Ateneo Municipal, a college under the supervision of the
Spanish Jesuits.

Ateneo Municipal
 Bitter rival of the Dominican-owned College of San Juan de Letran.

 Formerly the Escuela Pia (Charity School) – for poor boys in Manila established
in 1817.

 In 1859, name was changed to Ateneo Municipal by the Jesuits and later became
the Ateneo de Manila.
Rizal Enters the Ateneo

 June 10, 1872 – Jose, accompanied by Paciano, went to Manila to take the
entrance examinations on Christian Doctrine, arithmetic, and reading at
College of San Juan de Letran, and passed them. His father was the first one
who wished him to study at Letran but he changed his mind and decided to
send Jose at Ateneo instead.
 Father Magin Fernando – college registrar of Ateneo Municipal, refused to
admit Jose because: (1) he was late for registration and (2) he was sickly and
undersized for his age (11 years old).
 Manuel Xerez Burgos – nephew of Father Burgos; upon his intercession, Jose
Rizal was admitted at Ateneo.
 Jose used Rizal instead of Mercado because the name “Mercado” had come
under suspicion of the Spanish authorities.

Jesuit System of Education

 Jesuit trained the character of the student by rigid discipline, humanities, and
religious instruction.

 Students were divided into two groups: Roman Empire – consisting of the
internos (boarders) with red banners; and Carthaginian Empire – composed of
the externos (non-boarders) with blue banners.
 Each of these empires had its rank. Students fought for positions. Any student
could challenge any officer in his “empire” to answer questions on the day’s
lesson. With 3 mistakes, opponents could lose his position.
1st best: EMPEROR
2nd best: TRIBUNE
3rd best: DECURION
4th best: CENTURION
5th best: STANDARD-BEARER
 Ateneo students’ uniform is consisted of “hemp-fabric trousers” and “striped
cotton coat”. The coat was called rayadillo and was adopted as the uniform for
Filipino troops during the days of the First Philippine Republic.
Rizal’s First Year in Ateneo (1872-73)
 June 1872 – first day of class in Ateneo.
 Fr. Jose Bech – first professor of Rizal.
 Rizal was placed at the bottom of the class since he was a newcomer and knows
little Spanish. He was an externo and was assigned to Carthaginians. At the end of
the month, he became emperor of his Empire. He was the brightest pupil in the
whole class.
 Placed 2nd at the end of the year, although all his grades were still marked
Excellent.

Summer Vacation (1873)

 March 1873 – Rizal returned to Calamba for summer vacation.
 His sister Neneng (Saturnina) brought him to Tanawan to cheer him up.
 Visited his mother in prison at Santa Cruz without telling his father.

Second Year in Ateneo (1873-74)

 Rizal lost the leadership but he repented and even studied harder, once more he
became emperor. He received excellent grades in all subjects and a gold medal.
 He had 3 classmates from Biñan who had also been his classmates in the school of
Maestro Justiniano.

Third Year in Ateneo (1874-75)

 Shortly after the opening of classes, his mother was released from prison.
 Rizal did not make an excellent showing in his studies.
 He failed to win the medal in Spanish because his spoken was not fluently
sonorous.
Fourth Year in Ateneo (1875-76)
 June 16, 1875 – he became an inferno in Ateneo.
 Fr. Francisco de Paula Sanchez – inspired him to study harder and write poetry.
Rizal described him as “model of uprightness, earnestness, and love for the
advancement of his pupils”.
 He returned to Calamba with 5 medals and excellent ratings.

Last Year in Ateneo (1876-77)

 June 1876 – last year of Rizal in Ateneo.
 The most brilliant Atenean of his time, “the pride of the Jesuits”.
 Obtained highest grades in all subjects.

Graduation with Highest Honors

 Excellent scholastic records from 1872-1877.
 March 23, 1877 – Commencement Day. 16 year old Rizal received from his Alma
Mater the degree of Bachelor of Arts with highest honors.

Extra-Curricular Activities
 An emperor inside the classroom and campus leader outside.
 Secretary of the Marian Congregation.
 Member of Academy of Spanish Literature and the Academy of Natural Sciences.
 Studied painting under the famous Spanish painter Agustin Saez.
 Studied sculpture under Romualdo de Jesus, noted Filipino sculptor.
 Engaged in gymnastics and fencing.
 Fr. Jose Villaclara advised him to stop communing with the muses and pay more
attention to practical studies such as philosophy and natural science.

Sculptural Works in Ateneo

 Carved an image of The Virgin Mary on a piece of batikuling (Philippine
hardwood).

Anecdotes on Rizal, The Atenean

 Felix M. Ramos – one of Rizal’s contemporaries in Ateneo.
 Manuel Xeres Burgos – whose house Rizal boarded shortly before he became an
inferno.

Poems Written in Ateneo

 Mi Primera Inspiracion (My First Inspiration) – first poem he wrote for his
mother’s birthday.
 In 1875, inspired by Father Sanchez, he wrote more poems such as: Filicitacion
(Felicitation), El Embarque: Himno a la Flota de Magallanes (The Departure
Hymn to Magellan’s fleet), Y Es Espanol: Elcano, the first to circumnavigate the
world), and El Combate: Urbiztondo Terror de Jolo (The Battle: Urbiztondo,
Terror of Jolo).
 In 1876, Rizal wrote poems on various topics: Un Recuerdo a Mi Pueblu (In
Memory of My Town), Alianza Intima Entre la Region Y La Buena Educacion
(Intimate Alliance Between Religion and Good Education), Por la Educacion
Recibe Lustre La Patria (Through Education the Country Receive Light), E
Cultivero Y El Triunfo (The Captivity and the Triumph: Battle of Lucena and the
Imprisonment of Boabdil), and La Entrada Triuntal de Los Reyes Catolices en
Granada (The Triumphal Entry of The Catholic Monarches into Granada).
 A year later, in 1877 he wrote more poems: El Heroismo de Colon (The Heroism
of Colombus), Colon y Juan II (Colombus and John II ), Gran Consuelo en la
Mayor Desdicha (Great Solace in Great Misfortune), and Un Diarogo Alusivo a la
Despedida de los Colegiales (A Farewell Dialogue of the Students.
 Al Niño Jesus (To the Child Jesus) – a brief ode; written in 1875 when he was 14
years old.
 A La Virgen Maria (To the Virgin Mary).

Dramatic Work in Ateneo

 Father Sanchez, his favorite teacher, ask him to write a drama based on the prose
story of St. Eustace the Martyr.
 June 02, 1876 - finished the manuscript.

First Romance of Rizal

 16 years old - Rizal experienced his first romance.
 Segunda Katigba - a pretty 14 years old Batangueña from Lipa; sister of his friend
Mariano Katigbak
 His sister Olimpia was a close friend of Segunda in La Concordia College.
 Segunda was already engaged to Manuel Luz. His first romance was ruined by his
own shyness and reserve.
 Segunda returned to Lipa and later married Manuel Luz. Rizal remained in
Calamba, a frustrated lover, cherishing nostalgic memories of lost love.