Professional Documents
Culture Documents
[25]
From December 1891 to June 1892, Rizal lived with his family in Number 2 of Rednaxela Terrace,
Mid, as his ophthalmologist clinic from 2 pm to 6 pm. This period of his life included his recorded
affections of which ied. They were Gertrude Beckett of Chalcot Crescent, Primrose
Hill, Camden, London, wealthy and high-minded Nelly Boustead of the English and Iberian merchant
family, last descendant of a noble Japanese family Seiko Usui (affectionately called O-Sei-san), his
earlier friendship with Segunda Katigbak, Leonor Valenzuela, and eight-year romantic relationship
with a distant cousin, Leonor Rivera (popularly thought to be the inspiration for the character
of María Clara in Noli me tangere).
Affair
In one recorded fall from grace he succumbed to the temptation of a 'lady of the camellias'. 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 one-night and if it was more a business transaction than an
amorous affair.[26][27][note 6]
Josephine Bracken was Rizal's common-law wife whom he reportedly married shortly before his execution