Early life
surname Rizal], but now I had to use it, thus giving
José Rizal was born in 1861 to Francisco
Rizal Mercado y Alejandro 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 by the
Dominicans. Both their families had adopted the
additional surnames of Rizal and Realonda in 1849,
after Governor General Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa
decreed the adoption of Spanish surnames among
the Filipinos for census purposes (though they
already had Spanish names).
Like many families in the Philippines, the
Rizal’s were of mixed origin. José's patrilineal
lineage could be traced back to Fujian in China
through his father's ancestor Lam-Co, a Chinese
merchant who immigrated to the Philippines in the
late 17th century. Lam-Co traveled to Manila from
Xiamen, China, possibly to avoid the famine or
plague in his home district, and more probably to
escape the Manchu invasion during the Transition
from Ming to Qing. He finally decided to stay in the
islands as a farmer. In 1697, to escape the bitter
anti-Chinese prejudice that existed in the
Philippines, he converted to Catholicism, changed
his name to Domingo Mercado and married the
daughter of Chinese friend Augustin Chin-co. On his
mother's side, Rizal's ancestry included Chinese,
Japanese and Tagalog blood. His mother's lineage
can be traced to the affluent Florentina family of
Chinese mestizo families originating in Baliuag,
Bulacan. José Rizal also had Spanish ancestry. His
grandfather was a half Spaniard engineer named
Lorenzo Alberto Alonzo.
From an early age, José showed a
precocious intellect. He learned the alphabet from
his mother at 3, and could read and write at age 5.
Upon enrolling at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila,
he dropped the last three names that made up his
full name, on the advice of his brother, Paciano and
the Mercado family, thus rendering his name as
"José Protasio Rizal". Of this, he later wrote: "My
family never paid much attention [to our second
me the appearance of an illegitimate child!" This
was to enable him to travel freely and disassociate
him from his brother, who had gained notoriety
with his earlier links to Filipino priests Mariano
Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora (popularly
known as Gomburza) who had been accused and
executed for treason.
Despite the name change, José, 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 writes 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...”
Education
Rizal first studied under Justiniano Aquino Cruz in
Biñan, Laguna, before he was sent to Manila.[18]
As to his father's request, he took the entrance
examination in Colegio de San Juan de Letran but
he then enrolled at the Ateneo Municipal de
Manila and 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 where he did take up a
preparatory course in law. Upon learning that his
mother was going blind, he decided to switch to
medicine at the medical school of Santo Tomas
specializing later in ophthalmology.
Without his parents' knowledge and
consent, but secretly supported by his brother
Paciano, he traveled alone to Madrid, Spain in May
1882 and studied medicine at the Universidad
Central de Madrid where he earned the degree,
Licentiate in Medicine. He also attended medical
lectures at the University of Paris and the
University of Heidelberg. 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 professor, Otto Becker. There he used
the newly invented ophthalmoscope (invented by
Hermann von 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
Wilhelmsfeld, where he wrote the last few chapters
of Noli Me Tángere.
Rizal was a polymath, skilled in both science
and the arts. He painted, sketched, and made
sculptures and woodcarving. He was a prolific poet,
essayist, and novelist whose most famous works
were his two novels, Noli Me Tángere and its
sequel, El filibusterismo.[note 2] These social
commentaries during the Spanish colonization of
the country formed the nucleus of literature that
inspired peaceful reformists and armed
revolutionaries alike. Rizal was also a polyglot,
conversant in twenty-two languages.
Rizal's multifacetedness was described by
his German friend, Dr. Adolf Bernhard Meyer, as
"stupendous”. 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
Freemason, joining Acacia Lodge No. 9 during his
time in Spain and becoming a Master Mason in
1888
Rizal’s Death
The death of Jose Rizal on December 30,
1896 came right after a kangaroo trial convicted
him on all three charges of rebellion, sedition and
conspiracy.
December 30th is the death anniversary of
Dr. Jose Rizal. The death of Jose Rizal came right
after a kangaroo trial convicted him on all three
charges of rebellion, sedition and conspiracy. He
was guided to his cell in Fort Santiago where he
spent his last 24 hours right after the conviction. At
6:00 AM of December 29, 1896, Captain Rafael
Dominguez read Jose Rizal’s death sentence and
declared that he will be shot at 7:00 AM of the next
day in Bagumbayan.
At 8:00 PM of the same day, Jose Rizal had
his last supper and informed Captain Dominguez
that he had forgiven his enemies including the
military judges that condemned him to die. Rizal
heard mass at 3:00 in the morning of December 30,
1896, had confession before taking the Holy
Communion. He took his last breakfast at 5:30 AM
of December 30, 1896 and even had the time to
write two letters one for his family while the other
letter was for his brother Paciano. This was also the
time when his wife, Josephine Bracken and his
sister Josefa arrived and bade farewell to Rizal.
Jose Rizal’s baptismal register

Rizal as a student at the

University of Santo Tomas

Francisco Rizal Mercado

(1818-1897)

Rizal, 11 years old, a student at the

Ateneo Municipal de Manila

Riz
al’s house in Calamba, Laguna

Rednaxela Terrace, where Rizal lived during his self-

imposed exile in Hong Kong (photo taken in 2011).
Personal life, relationships
and ventures
José Rizal's life is one of the most documented of 19th
century Filipinos due to the vast and extensive records
written by and about him.[24]Almost everything in his
short life is recorded somewhere, being himself a
regular diarist and prolific letter writer, much of the Business card shows Dr. José Rizal is an Ophthalmologist
material having survived. His biographers, however, in Hong Kong
have faced difficulty in translating his writings because
of Rizal's habit of switching from one language to
another. From December 1891 to June 1892, Rizal lived with
his family in Number 2 of Rednaxela Terrace, Mid-
They drew largely from his travel diaries with their levels, Hong Kong Island. Rizal used 5 D'Aguilar
insights of a young Asian encountering the West for
Street, Central district, Hong Kong Island, as
the first time. They included his later trips, home and
his ophthalmologist clinic from 2 pm to 6 pm. This
back again to Europe through Japan and the United
period of his life included his recorded affections of
States,[25] and, finally, through his self-imposed exile in
which nine were identified. They were Gertrude
Hong Kong.
Beckett of Chalcot Crescent, Primrose
Shortly after he graduated from the Ateneo Municipal Hill, Camden, London, wealthy and high-minded
de Manila (now Ateneo de Manila University), Rizal Nelly Boustead of the English and Iberian merchant
(who was then 16 years old) and a friend, Mariano family, last descendant of a noble Japanese family
Katigbak, came to visit Rizal's maternal grandmother Seiko Usui (affectionately called O-Sei-san), his
in Tondo, Manila. Mariano brought along his sister, earlier friendship with Segunda Katigbak, Leonor
Segunda Katigbak, a 14-year-old Batangueña
Valenzuela, and eight-year romantic relationship
from Lipa, Batangas. It was the first time they met and
with a distant cousin, Leonor Rivera (popularly
Rizal described Segunda as "rather short, with eyes
thought to be the inspiration for the character
that were eloquent and ardent at times and languid at
of María Clara in Noli me tangere).
others, rosy–cheeked, with an enchanting and
provocative smile that revealed very beautiful teeth,
and the air of a sylph; her entire self diffused a
mysterious charm." His grandmother's guests were
mostly college students and they knew that Rizal had
skills in painting. They suggested that Rizal should
make a portrait of Segunda. He complied reluctantly
and made a pencil sketch of her. Unfortunately for
him, Katigbak was engaged to Manuel Luz.[26]

Relationship with Josephine

Bracken
Further information: Josephine Bracken

In February 1895, Rizal, 33, met Josephine Bracken,

an Irish woman from Hong Kong, when she
accompanied her blind adoptive father, George
Taufer, to have his eyes checked by Rizal.[32] After
frequent visits, Rizal and Bracken fell in love with
each other. They applied to marry but, because of
Rizal's reputation from his writings and political
stance, the local priest Father Obach would only
hold the ceremony if Rizal could get permission
from the Bishop of Cebu. He was unable to obtain
an ecclesiastical marriage because he would not
return to Catholicism.[6]
After accompanying her father to Manila on her
return to Hong Kong, and before heading back
to Dapitan to live with Rizal, Josephine introduced
herself to members of Rizal's family in Manila. His
mother suggested a civil marriage, which she
believed to be a lesser sacrament but less sinful to
Rizal's conscience than making any sort of political
retraction in order to gain permission from the
Bishop.[33] Rizal and Josephine lived as husband and
wife in a common-law marriage in Talisay
in Dapitan. The couple had a son who lived only for
a few hours after Josephine suffered a miscarriage;
Rizal named him after his father Francisco.[34]

In Brussels and Spain (1890–92)
In 1890, Rizal, 29, left Paris for Brussels as he was
preparing for the publication of his annotations
of Antonio de Morga's Sucesos de las Islas
Filipinas (1609). He lived in the boarding house of
the two Jacoby sisters, Catherina and Suzanna, who
had a niece Suzanna ("Thil"), age 16.
Historian Gregorio F. Zaide states that Rizal had "his
romance with Suzanne Jacoby, 45, the petite niece
of his landladies." Belgian Pros Slachmuylders,
however, believed that Rizal had a romance with the
17-year-old niece, Suzanna Thil, as his other liaisons
were all with young women.[35] He found records
clarifying their names and ages.
Rizal's Brussels stay was short-lived; he moved to
Madrid, giving the young Suzanna a box of
chocolates. She wrote to him in French: "After your
departure, I did not take the chocolate. The box is
still intact as on the day of your parting. Don’t delay
too long writing us because I wear out the soles of
my shoes for running to the mailbox to see if there
is a letter from you. There will never be any home
in which you are so loved as in that in Brussels, so,
you little bad boy, hurry up and come back…" [35] In
2007, Slachmuylders' group arranged for an
historical marker honoring Rizal to be placed at the
house.[35]
Josephine Bracken was Rizal's common-law wife whom he
reportedly married shortly before his execution
Works and writings
Rizal wrote mostly in Spanish, the lingua franca of
the Spanish East Indies, though some of his letters
(for example Sa Mga Kababaihang Taga Malolos)
were written in Tagalog. His works have since been
translated into a number of languages including
Tagalog and English.
Novels and essays
 Noli Me Tángere, novel, 1887 (literally Latin
for 'touch me not', from John 20:17)[59]
 El Filibusterismo, (novel, 1891), sequel to Noli
Me Tángere
 Alin Mang Lahi ("Whate'er the Race"),
a Kundiman attributed to Dr. José Rizal[60]
 The Friars and the Filipinos (Unfinished)
 Toast to Juan Luna and Felix
Hidalgo (Speech, 1884), given at Restaurante
Ingles, Madrid

 The Diaries of José Rizal

 Rizal's Letters is a compendium of Dr. Jose  Un Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo
Rizal's letters to his family members, Blumentritt,
Fr. Pablo Pastells and other reformers  A Man in Dapitan

 "Come se gobiernan las Filipinas" (Governing

the Philippine islands)
Plays
 Filipinas dentro de cien años essay, 1889–90  El Consejo de los Dioses (The council of
(The Philippines a Century Hence) Gods)

 La Indolencia de los Filipinos, essay, 1890  Junto Al Pasig (Along the Pasig)[62]:381
(The indolence of Filipinos)[61]
 San Euistaquio, Mártyr (Saint Eustache, the
 Makamisa unfinished novel martyr)[63]

 Sa Mga Kababaihang Taga Malolos, essay, Other works

1889, To the Young Women of Malolos
Rizal also tried his hand at painting and sculpture. His
most famous sculptural work was "The Triumph of
 Annotations to Antonio de Moragas, Sucesos
Science over Death", a clay sculpture of a naked
de las Islas Filipinas (essay, 1889, Events in the
young woman with overflowing hair, standing on a
Philippine Islands)
skull while bearing a torch held high. The woman

Poetry
symbolized the ignorance of humankind during the
Dark Ages, while the torch she bore symbolized the
enlightenment science brings over the whole world.
He sent the sculpture as a gift to his dear friend
 A La Juventud Filipina (To The Philippine Ferdinand Blumentritt, together with another one
Youth) named "The Triumph of Death over Life".
The woman is shown trampling the skull, a symbol of
 El Canto Del Viajero
death, to signify the victory the humankind achieved
by conquering the bane of death through their
 Briayle Crismarl scientific advancements. The original sculpture is now
displayed at the Rizal Shrine Museum at Fort
 Canto de María Clara Santiago in Intramuros, Manila. A large replica, made
of concrete, stands in front of Fernando Calderón
 Himno Al Trabajo (Dalit sa Paggawa) Hall, the building which houses the College of
Medicine of the University of the Philippines Manila
 Felicitación along Pedro Gil Street in Ermita, Manila.

 Kundiman (Tagalog)

 Me Piden Versos

 Mi primera inspiracion

 Mi Retiro

 Mi Ultimo Adiós

 Por La Educación (Recibe Lustre La Patria)

The Triumph of Science over Death, by Rizal.
 Sa Sanggol na si Jesus

 A Mi Musa (To My Muse) Reactions after death

Retraction controversy An engraving of the execution of Filipino insurgents at
Bagumbayan (now Luneta).
Several historians report that Rizal retracted his anti-
Catholic ideas through a document which stated: "I
retract with all my heart whatever in my words,
writings, publications and conduct have been contrary
to my character as a son of the Catholic Church."[note
11]
However, there are doubts of its authenticity given
that there is no certificate[clarification needed] of Rizal's
Catholic marriage to Josephine Bracken.[64] Also there is
an allegation that the retraction document was a
forgery.[65]
After analyzing six major documents of Rizal, Ricardo
Pascual concluded that the retraction document, said
to have been discovered in 1935, was not in Rizal's
handwriting. Senator Rafael Palma, a former President
of the University of the Philippines and a
prominent Mason, argued that a retraction is not in Historical marker of José Rizal's execution site.
keeping with Rizal's character and mature beliefs.[66] He
called the retraction story a "pious fraud."[67] Others
who deny the retraction are Frank Laubach,[20] a
Protestant minister; Austin Coates,[31] a British writer;
and Ricardo Manapat, director of the National
Archives.[68]
Those who affirm the authenticity of Rizal's retraction
are prominent Philippine historians such as Nick
Joaquin,[note 12] Nicolas Zafra of UP[69] León María
Guerrero III,[note 13] Gregorio Zaide,[71] Guillermo Gómez
Rivera, Ambeth Ocampo,[68] John Schumacher,
[72]
Antonio Molina,[73] Paul Dumol[74] and Austin Craig.
[23]
They take the retraction document as authentic,
having been judged as such by a foremost expert on
the writings of Rizal, Teodoro Kalaw (a 33rd degree
Mason) and "handwriting experts...known and
recognized in our courts of justice", H. Otley Beyer and
Dr. José I. Del Rosario, both of UP.[69]