Activity 11: To all the Girls Rizal Loved Before
Complete the chart below to identify the women whose romantic relationship with
Jose Rizal are well-known.
Names How Their Relationship Began
1.Segunda Katigbak They met when Rizal visited
his grandmother with his friend,
Mariano Katigbak, Segunda's
Nationality: Filipino brother. The Katigbaks were
close to Rizal's grandmother,
and coincidentally, Segunda was
at the grandma's house when
Rizal and Mariano arrived. It
was attraction at first sight.
2.Margarita Almaida Gomez Margarita Almaida Gomez of
Calamba. Rizal described her as
of "fair complexion with
attractive eyes." He kept on
Nationality: Filipino visiting Margarita in her house
and the family always
welcomed him.
They met when Rizal was a
3.Leonor Valenzuela sophomore medical student at
the University of Santo Tomas,
during which time he also lived
at Doña Concha Leyva's
Nationality: Filipino boarding house in Intramuros,
Manila. Orang, who was then
14 years old, was his neighbor.
Rizal frequently visited
Orang’s house with or without
social gatherings.
How Their Relationship Ended
Segunda was already engaged
to be married to a man who
lived in her town, and Rizal had
to stop pursuing her.
Rizal wrote about the incident
years later, "Ended, at an early
house, my first love! My virgin
heart will always mourn the
reckless step it took on the
flower-decked abyss. My
illusions will return, yes, but
indifferent, uncertain, ready for
the first betrayal on the path of
love."
His affection for Margarita
however, stopped because his
father Don Francisco opposed.
The reason given by the father
was that Jose was still too young
and had not yet finished his
studies. Because Rizal was
always obedient to his parents,
he gave up his love and never
thought of her anymore.
When Rizal left for Spain, he
received a letter from his friend
and confidant Jose M. Cecilio
(Chenggoy) indicating that the
two ladies had an idea that their
‘common denominator’ was not
only their first name.
The letter suggests that either
Orang was giving way to
Rivera-Rizal love affair or she
(Orang) was not that interested
in Rizal. Orang did not feel
much sorrow upon Rizal’s
departure. She was said to have
accepted other suitors, attended
social parties, and ended up
 marrying an employee of a trade
house.

4.Leonor Rivera Leanora Rivera and Jose They were besieged by

Rizal lived the tragedies of obstacles. Leonor's parents
Shakespeare's poems. They highly disapproved of their
Nationality: Filipino
met when Rizal was 18 and relationship as they were
Leonor was 13, at the wary of Rizal being a
boarding house of Rizal's "filibuster."
uncle in Intramuros,
Manila. Leonor was Rizal's
second cousin. It was a
perfect love story in the
beginning: he, the
intelligent charmer, and
she, the beautiful student
who had a beautiful singing
voice and was a talented
piano player. Soon, they
fell in love.

Consuelo Ortega Y Rey

5.Consuelo Ortega Y Perez was the daughter of Don
Pablo Ortiga Y Rey, who
was Mayor of Manila when
Nationality: French Maria dela Torre was the
governor. While Rizal was
in Madrid, he would hang
out at Don Pablo's house,
which became a place
where Filipino students
would often get together.
Through one of these
gatherings, Rizal met
Consuelo.
Rizal showed affection
towards Consuelo but was
not serious in his pursuit as
he was still engaged to
Leonor Rivera at the time.
In the end, Consuelo got
engaged to Rizal's friend,
Eduardo de Lete.

6.Seiko Usui In 1888. Rizal had just Country-saving duties

arrived in Japan from
Hongkong upon an
Nationality: Japanese invitation to take a job offer
at the Spanish Legation.
One day, while he was in
the office grounds, he saw
O-Sei-San walk past the
legation's gate and was
would call and Rizal had to
leave Japan for San
Francisco. He never saw O-
Sei-San again. Their affair
lasted for around two
months.
 immediately enthralled by
her beauty. With the help of
a Japanese gardener, he
asked to be introduced to
the woman who captured
his eyes - and the gardener
acquiesced.

7.Getrude Becket After his stay in the US, Rizal
headed to London and stayed in
the boarding house run by
Nationality: English Charles Beckett. Gettie was
apparently keen on Rizal,
helping him with his artwork.
Supposedly, her assistance
helped Rizal finish his works,
namely, 'Prometheus Bound',
'The Triumph of Death over
Life,' and 'The Triumph of
Science over Death.'
In 1889, Rizal left London,
and left Gettie a composite
carving of the heads of the
Beckett sisters. Marcelo del
Pilar, Rizal's friend, said
Rizal left London to move
away from Gertrude, whose
idea of their relationship
was more than what it
really was - the most
tormenting kind: an
unrequited love.

8.Suzanne Thill Jacobe When Rizal arrived in Rizal left Belgium in

Belgium in 1890, he lived August that year. Suzanne
at a boarding house that was heartbroken.
Nationality: Belgian was run by two sisters
whose last name was
Jacoby. The sisters had a
niece named Suzanne.

The relationship was

probably a fling, too, as
Rizal made no mention of
Suzanne when he wrote
letters to his friends about
his stay in Belgium.

9.Nellie Boustead Rizal and Nellie met in Nellie wanted Rizal to

Biarritz, where Nellie's convert to Protestantism,
wealthy family hosted and her mother didn't
Nationality: French Rizal's stay at their approve of a man who didn't
residence on the French have the capacity to give her
Riviera. daughter a good life. But it
didn't end in tears, as the
two had a pretty amicable
breakup and she even
wished him well in a letter

10.Josephine Bracken
Nationality: Hongkong, Irish
Josephine Bracken was the
woman who stayed with
Rizal until his execution in
1896. She was also,
allegedly, the woman whom
Rizal married.
as he was about to leave
Europe.
Just like the other Rizal
great loves, this one was
once again complicated. No
priest would marry the two,
for reasons that are still
unclear - but perhaps it was
because of Rizal's status in
politics. Without a legal
paper, Rizal and Josephine
lived together. However, up
to this day, there is no legal
proof that Josephine and
Rizal ever got married.