LIFE AND WORKS OF RIZAL (Midterm)

MODIFIED COURSEWORK
Name : _________________________ Score: __/60 ITEMS
Course/ Major : __________________ Year/Sec: ________
Course Code & Title : GE 12 – The Life and Works of Rizal
Name of the Instructor: _Brainy Lynne R. Damasin, LPT
Remaining Topics for Midterm:
• Rizal’s Higher Education and Life Abroad
Brief Discussion:
A. RIZAL’S HIGHER EDUCATION AND LIFE ABROAD
HIGHER EDUCATION AT UST
After completing his Bachelor of Arts (high school diploma
equivalent), Rizal’s higher education was spent most in UST.
Both Paciano and Don Francisco anted Rizal to enter a
university but Donya Teodora opposed the idea because the
Spaniards might cut-off his head.
In April, when Rizal was nearly 16 years old, he enrolled at
UST. He took Philosophy and Letters because his father liked it,
and he was uncertain as to what course he would pursue. At
first, he was attracted to a priesthood. The Jesuits fathers want
him to take up farming but Rizal’s choice was between
Literature and Law and Medicine. Having a talent for self-
expression and a keen sense of justice he would have been a
brilliant lawyer.
Having received Father Pablo Ramon’s (Rector of Ateneo)
advice to study medicine, he took up medical course enrolling
simultaneously in pre-medical course and regular medical
course. While at UST, he also studied at Ateneo taking up
vocational course leading to the title perito agrimensor (expert
surveyor). He excelled in all subjects in surveying course and
obtained gold medals in Agriculture and Topography. He passed
the final examination in the surveying course and granted the
title as Surveyor in November 25, 1885.
While at Ateneo pursuing the surveying course, he became
active in extracurricular activities. He was elected President of
the Academy of Spanish Literature and Secretary of the
Academy of Spanish Literature. He was also the secretary of the
Marian Congregation.
While at UST, Rizal fell in love with three women. During his
first year, he fell in love with a woman simply called “Miss L”,
a woman with a fair, seductive and attractive eye. The romance
died like a natural death because of two reasons: the sweet
memory of Segunda Katigbak (Rizal’s firs sweetheart) was still
fresh in his memory, and Rizal’s father did not like the family of
“Miss L”. The identity of “Miss L” is lost in history. During his
sophomore year, he courted Leonor Valenzuela (Orang), a tall
girl with regal bearing. He sent her love notes in invisible ink
(combination of salt and water). During his junior year, Rizal
had a romance with Leonor Rivera of Camiling, Tarlac, a frail
pretty girl and a student of La Concordia College. Both Rizal
and Leonor were engaged. Rizal used a sign name “Taimis” to
camouflage their relationship from their parents.
During his college days in UST and Ateneo, Rizal was involved
in brawls and Spanish brutality. During his summer vacation in
1878, while walking on a dimly street not knowing the figure
close to him, he did not greet and say “Good Evening”. The
vague figure turned out to be a lieutenant of Guardia Civil and
struck Rizal’s back with his sword. In another student brawls
near Escolta in Manila, Rizal was wounded on the head. His
Filipino friends brought him bleeding and covered with dust to
his boarding house “Casa Tomasina”.
Rizal studied at UST from 1878 to 1882. Unlike in Ateneo,
Rizal was unhappy in UST and his grades at UST College of
Medicine was not as impressive as what he got in Ateneo
Philosophy and Letters due to the hostility of the Dominican
professors to him, backward method of instruction (subjects
were taught without laboratory experiments – laboratory
apparatuses were just kept inside showcases for display
purposes), and racial discrimination against Filipino students.
After completing the fourth-year term in medicine, Rizal
decided to study in Spain because he could no longer endure the
discrimination and oppression at UST and because in Spain, the
professors were more liberal than those in UST.
TRAVEL, LIFE, AND EDUCATION ABROAD
Dr. Jose Rizal was considered as the “Most Travelled Filipino
Hero”. He travelled to almost 20 countries and about 40 island
cities. Rizal’s parents, Leonor, and the Spanish authorities knew
nothing of his decision to go abroad, only his brother Paciano,
uncle Antonio Rivera, sisters Neneng and Lucia, the Valenzuela
family, Pedro Paterno, compadre Mateo Evangelista, Ateneo
Jesuits priest, and some intimate friends. Before Rizal’s secret
departure, he wrote a farewell letter to his parents and his
sweetheart Leonor Rivera which was delivered to them after he
sailed away. His main reason in leaving the Philippines was to
transfer at the Universidad Central de Madrid in Spain and to
finish his medicine course. The following events took place
during Rizal’s travels and life abroad are arranged in their
chronological order.
May 3, 1882 – on board the Spanish steamer Salvadora, Rizal
departed for Spain using Jose Mercado on his travel documents.
May 8, 1882 – he has a two-day stopover in Singapore, an
English colony. May 11, 1882 – he was on board the steamer
Djemnah, a French steamer, much larger and cleaner than
Salvadora. May 17, 1882 – he arrived at Point Galle, a seacoast
town in southern Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). May 18, 1882 – he
had a stopover at Colombo, the capital of Ceylon. May 28, 1882
– From Colombo, Ceylon, the Djemnah continued voyage and
crossed the Indian Ocean until it reached Cape of Guardafin,
Africa, then he reached Aden. June 2, 1882 – from Aden, he
proceeded to Suez Canal, then to the Red Sea Terminal reaching
Port Said. June 11, 1882 – From Port Said, the steamer
proceeded to Europe and reached Naples City, Italy. June 12,
1882 – the steamer docked at the French harbor of Marseilles
where he stayed for 3 days. June 15, 1882 – the steamer left
Marseilles by train and reached Pyrenees and stopped for a day
at Port Bou. June 16, 1882 – from Port Bou, Rizal continued his
trip and finally reached his destination – Barcelona, Spain.
LIFE IN BARCELONA: At first, Rizal had a bad impression of
Barcelona – ugly, dirty little inns, inhospitable people – because
he happened to stay upon his arrival in a stingy hotel. Later, he
changed his mind and came to like the city – as a great city with
an atmosphere of freedom and liberalism and the people were
open-hearted, hospitable, and courageous. Rizal was welcomed
by the Filipinos in Barcelona, some were his classmates in
Ateneo. They gave him party, exchanged toast and told Rizal of
the attractions and customs of the people in Barcelona, Rizal, in
turn, gave news and gossips in the Philippines. While in
Barcelona, Rizal received two bad news, first was the cholera
outbreak that ravaged Manila and the provinces, the second was
the chatty letter of Chenggoy recounting the unhappiness of
Leonor Rivera, who was getting thinner due to the absence of a
loved one.
LIFE IN MADRID: November 3, 1882 – Rizal enrolled in the
Universidad Central de Madrid in Medicine and Philosophy and
Letters. He also studied painting and sculpture in the Academy
of Fine Arts of San Fernando, took tutoring lessons in French
and English and practiced fencing and shooting in the Hall of
Arms of Sanz Carbonell. Rizal lived frugally, rigidly budgeting
his money wisely. Although he used to buy tickets in every draw
of the Madrid lottery, he never wasted his money for gambling,
wine, and women. He spent his leisure time reading books,
purchased second-hand books, practiced shooting and fencing.
At other times, he visited his Filipino friends, fraternized with
other students, and visited the home of Don Pablo Ortega y Rey,
where he became attracted to Consuelo’s beauty and charm.
June 21, 1884 – Rizal as conferred the Licentiate in Medicine by
the Universidad Central de Madrid. In the next academic year
(1884-1885), he passed all the subjects leading to the degree of
Doctor of Medicine, however, he was not conferred with the
degree for failure to present a thesis required for graduation and
pay corresponding fee. Nevertheless, by obtaining the degree of
Licentiate in Medicine, he became a full-pledge physician and
qualified to practice Medicine. June 19, 1885 – on his 24th
birthday, Rizal was awarded the degree of Licentiate in
Philosophy and Letters by the Universidad Central de Madrid,
by obtaining this degree, he became qualified to be a professor
of humanities in any Spanish University. June 25, 1885 – Rizal
was invited to speak in a banquet to celebrate the double victory
of two Filipino artist: Juan Luna’s “Spoliarium” winning first
place and Felix Hidalgo’s “Christian Virgins Exposed to the
Populace” winning second prize, in the National Exposition of
Fine Arts in Madrid.
November, 1885 – Rizal went to Paris and lived there for four
months where he worked as an assistant to Dr. Louis de Wecket,
a leading French ophthalmologist. Outside working hours, he
visited his friends and even went to Juan Luna’s studio to help
by posing as a model in several paintings. February 3, 1886 – he
left Paris for Heidelberg, Germany. Since he was a good chess
player, he was made a member of the Chess Player’s Club. Rizal
worked at the University Eye Hospital under Dr. Otto Becker, a
distinguished German ophthalmologist and attended lectures of
Dr. Becker and Prof. Wilhelm Kuehne at the University.
July 3, 1886 – Rizal wrote his first letter in German to Prof.
Ferdinand Blumentritt, an Austrian ethnologist interested in the
Philippine languages, who was at that time the Director of
Ateneo of Lemeritz, Austria. August 9, 1886 – Rizal left
Heidelberg and boarded a train, and visited other cities of
Germany. August 14, 1886 – he arrived at Leipzig, attended
some lectures at the University of Leipzig in history and
psychology, and befriended Prof. Friedrich Ratzel (famous
German historian) and Dr. Hans Meyer (German
anthropologist). October 29, 1886 – he arrived at Dresden,
Germany and met Dr. Adolf Meyer, Director of Anthropological
and Ethnological Museum. Upon the recommendation of Dr.
Jagor and Meyer, he became member of the Anthropological
Society, Ethnological Society and Geographical Society in
Berlin.
LIFE IN BERLIN: November 1, 1886 – Rizal left Dresden by
train and reached Berlin where Rizal met for the first time Dr.
Feodor Jagor, a famous German scientist-traveler and author of
Travels in the Philippines. Rizal became impressed in Berlin
because of its scientific atmosphere and absence of racial race.
He lived in Berlin in a frugal life. He worked as an assistant in
Dr. Schweigger’s clinic, attended lectures in the University of
Berlin, took private lessons under French Prof. Madame Lucie
Cerdale, performed daily exercises in a Berlin gymnasium,
observe keenly the customs, dresses, homes and occupations of
the peasants and made sketches of the things he saw. During
winter in 1886 in Berlin, he lived in poverty because he was flat
broke, he had to eat only one meal a day consisted of bread,
water, and cheap vegetable soup, washed his clothes, resulting to
his health’s break down. Rizal went to Berlin for five reasons: to
increase his knowledge in ophthalmology, to broaden his studies
of sciences and languages, to observe political and economic
conditions of Germany, to associate with famous German
scientist and scholars, and to publish his novel, Noli Me
Tangere.
May 11, 1887 – Rizal and Viola left berlin and went to Dresden.
May 13, 1887 – Rizal and Viola on board a train reached
Letmeritz, Bohemia (now Czechoslovakia), where he met
another famous scientist of Europe, Dr. Carlos Czepelan, and
another eminent naturalist Robert Klutschak. May 17, 1887 –
Rizal and Viola left Leitmeritz by train on their way to the City
of Prague. May 19, 1887 – Rizal and Viola went to Brunn City.
May 20, 1887 – they arrived at the city of Vienna, capital of
Austria-Hungary. May 24, 1887 – they left Vienna by river boat
and ended in Lintz, afterwards, they travelled on land to
Salzburg, and from there to Munich. From Munich, they went to
Nuremberg and then to Ulm. June 2-3, 1887 – they continued
their trip on boat and reached Bern, Lausanne. June 6, 1887 –
Rizal and Viola reached Geneva, Switzerland, where he received
the sad news about the deplorable conditions of the Igorots of
Northern Luzon who were exhibited in the 1887 Madrid
Exhibition and their scanty clothing and crude weapons were
objects of mockery and laughter by the Spaniards. June 19, 1887
– on Rizal’s 26th birthday, he treated Viola to a blow-out. June
23, 1887 – Rizal and Viola parted ways, Viola returned to
Barcelona while Rizal continued his tour to Italy. June 24, 1887
– from Geneva, Rizal went to Italy and visited Turin, Milan,
Venice, and Florence. June 27, 1887 – he reached Rome, the
“Eternal City” and the “City of the Caezars”. June 29, 1887- he
visited for the first time the Vatican, the “City of the Popes” and
the capital of the Christiandom.
June 29, 1887 – Rizal wrote to his father announcing that he is
coming home. Paciano, his family and friends warned him not to
return home because the publication of Noli Me Tangere caused
an uproar and anger among the friars in the Philippines. But,
Rizal did not heed their warning and was determined to return
home for the following reasons: to operate on his mother’s eyes,
to serve the Filipino people who were oppressed by the Spanish
tyrants, to determine how his NOLI and other writings affected
the Filipinos and Spaniards, and to inquire the conditions of
Leonor Rivera. July 3, 1887 – Rizal left Rome by train for
Marseilles, and boarded the Djemnah, a Manila-bound steamer.
July 30, 1887 – in Saigon, he transferred to steamer Haiphong
bound for Manila. August 2, 1887 – steamer Haiphong left
Saigon for Manila. August 5, 1887 – steamer Haiphong arrived
in Manila. August 8, 1887 – Rizal returned home to Calamba,
where he was met affectionately and with plentiful tears of joy,
however his family became worried for his safety so Paciano did
not leave him during his first days after arrival and his father did
not let him go out alone.
BRIEF STAY IN CALAMBA: upon his return from abroad,
Rizal established a medical clinic in Calamba, where his first
patient is his mother who is almost blind, thus treating his
mother’s eye. Patients from Manila and nearby provinces
flocked to Calamba for treatment. His professional fee were
reasonable and those who were poor were treated free of charge.
During his six months stay in Calamba he failed to see Leonor
Rivera. Few weeks after Rizal’s arrival in Calamba, there were
threats over Rizal’s life due to the publication of his book
“Noli”. Governor General Emilio Terrero (1885-1888) assigned
a young Spanish Lieutenant, Don Jose Taviel de Andrade as
bodyguard to prevent Rizal from being harassed. In addition to
his controversial book “Noli”, the Dominican friars got more
furious because of Rizal’s exposure of the deplorable conditions
of tenancy in Calamba which infuriated further his enemies.
This alarmed his parenst, relatives, and friends, and even Lt.
Andrade, thus, the Governor-General advised Rizal to escape
and leave the Philippines for his own good.
SECOND TRIP ABROAD: February 3, 1888 – Rizal left
Manila for Hong Kong on board the Zafiro. February 7, 1888 –
steamer Zafiro made a brief stopover at Amoy. February 8, 1888
– He arrived in Hong Kong. February 18, 1888 – Rizal and Basa
visited Macao boarding the ferry steamer Ku-Kiang. February
21, 1888 – Rizal and Basa went back to Hong Kong. While in
Hong Kong, Jose Sainz de Varonda, a Spaniard, was
commissioned by the Spanish authorities to spy on Rizal.
February 22, 1888 – on board the American steamer Oceanic,
Rizal left Hong Kong for Japan. February 28, 1888 – Rizal
arrived at Yokohama, Japan. February 29, 1888 – he proceeded
to Tokyo, Japan. While in Japan, Rizal met Seiko-San. April 13,
1888 – Rizal boarded the English steamer Belgic bound for
United States. April 28, 1888 – Rizal arrived at San Francisco
Port however all the passengers were not allowed to land
because the ship was placed under quarantine for it came from
Far East where the cholera epidemic was alleged to be raging.
May 4, 1888 – Rizal and the other passengers were permitted to
land. May 6, 1888 – he left San Francisco to Oakland. May 7,
1888 – Rizal boarded a train for trip across the American
continent (Reno> Nevada> Utah> Ogden> Denver> Colorado>
Nebraska> Chicago> Canada> Albany). May 13, 1888 – Rizal
reached New York. May 18, 1888 – on board the ship called
City of Rome, Rizal left New York for Liverpool.
RIZAL’S IMPRESSION OF AMERICA. Good Impressions:
America is a progressive nation with great cities, huge farms,
flourishing industries and busy factories; American people were
energetic and hard-working; the cities were beautiful; standard
of living is high; better opportunities for a better life especially
the poor immigrants. Bad Impressions: racial prejudice existed,
democracy and freedom were only in words, not practiced; no
true civil liberty.
May 25, 1888 – he went to London and stay there for a short
time as a guest at the home of Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor, a
practicing lawyer in London. While in London, he received bad
news: persecution of the Filipino patriots who signed the
petition for the expulsion of the friars in the Philippines; attacks
on Rizal by Senators Salamanca and Vida; persecution of Rizal
family and other Calamba farmers for their courage to petition
the government for agrarian reforms; exile of Manuel T.
Hidalgo; and arrest and jailing of Rizal’s friend Lauriano Viado
because of the copies of Noli. September, 1888 – Rizal visited
Paris to search for more historical materials in the Biblioteque
Nationale. December 11, 1888 – he went to visit his compatriots
Marcelo H. Del Pilar and Mariano Ponce in Spain. December
31, 1888 – A patriotic society was established and inaugurated
called Association La Solidaridad with Rizal chosen as honorary
president. February 15, 1889 – Graciano Lopez Jaena founded
the fortnightly patriotic newspaper, La Solidaridad – in
Barcelona, Spain. Its aims were: to work for a peaceful political
and social reforms in the Philippines; to portray the deplorable
conditions of the Philippines; to oppose the evil forces of
reaction; to advocate liberal ideas and progress; and to champion
the legitimate aspirations of the Filipino people to life,
democracy, and happiness. March 19, 1889 – Rizal went to
Paris, he organized his compatriots into a society called Kidlat
Club which would bring together the young Filipinos in the
French capital so that they could enjoy their sojourn in the city.
August, 1889 – Rizal scheduled the holding of the inaugural
convention of the “International Association of Filipinologist”
which aims to study the Philippines from scientific and
historical point of view. September 21, 1889 – Rizal founded the
society called Redencion de los Malayos (Redemption of the
Malays) during the Universal Exposition in Paris. June 20, 1890
– Rizal wrote to M.H. Del Pilar to serve as the lawyer in the land
case that was appealed by the Rizal family to the Supreme Court
in Spain. July 18, 1890 – Rizal wrote Mariano Ponce of his
determination to go home because of the suffering that affected
his family. August, 1890 – upon his arrival in Madrid, he
immediately sought the help of the Filipino colony in order to
protest the injustices committed by the governor general and
Dominican friars against the Calamba people. August 19, 1890 –
Rizal received a sad news on the untimely death of his friend
Jose Ma. Panganiban in Barcelona. September 6, 1890 – Paciano
Rizal, Antonio Lopez, Silvestre Ubaldo, Mateo Elejorde, and
Dandoy were arrested, shipped out of Calamba and exiled in
Mindoro. December 1890 – Rizal received a letter from Leonor
Rivera announcing her coming marriage to Englishman and
asking his forgiveness. February 1, 1891 – Rizal left Madrid for
Biarritz where he had a brief vacation and stayed as a guest at
the Bousted family and eventually fell in love with Nelly but did
not end happily. March 29, 1891 – he finished writing the
manuscript for El Filibusterismo. May 1, 1891 – Rizal notified
the Propaganda authorities in Manila to cancel his monthly
allowance and devote the money to the education of young
Filipino students in Europe. Also, he ceased writing articles for
La Solidaridad. May 30, 1891 – Rizal almost completed the
revision of El Filibusterismo and readied for printing. July 5,
1891 – Rizal left Brussels for Ghent. He moved to Ghent
because the cost of printing in Ghent was cheaper than in
Brussels. October 3, 1891 – Rizal left Ghent for Paris and stayed
there for few days to bid goodbye to his friends. October 14,
1891- from Paris he went to Marseilles. October 18, 1891 –
Rizal boarded steamer Melbourne bound for Hong Kong.
November 20, 1891 – he arrived at Hong Kong. December 21,
1891 – Rizal wrote his parents asking permission to return
home. December 24, 1891 – Rizal was gladdened by the arrival
of his father, brother, and Silvestre Ubaldo, not long afterwards,
his mother and sisters Lucia, Josefina, and Trinidad also arrived.
December 25, 1891 – it was one of the happiest yuletide
celebration in Rizal’s life as they had a happy family reunion.
January 31, 1892 – Rizal wrote Blumentritt recounting their
pleasant life in Hong Kong. March 7, 1892 – on board the ship
Menon, Rizal went to Sandakan to negotiate with the British
authorities for the establishment of a Filipino colony which is a
success because the Borneo Authorities were willing to give
Filipino colonist 100, 000 acres of land, a beautiful harbor, and a
government. April 20, 1892 – Rizal is back to Hong Kong. May
8, 1892 – Rizal wanted to return to Manila to confer with
Governor Despujol regarding the Borneo Colonization project
and to established the La Liga Filipina in Manila and to prove
that Eduardo de Lete was wrong in attacking him in Madrid that
he is being comfortable and safe in Hong Kong had abandoned
the country’s cause. June 21, 1892 – Rizal and his sister Lucia
left Hong Kong for Manila. At the same date, the Spanish
consul-general who issued him a government guarantee of
safety, informed Manila that the victim is on trap, hence, a secret
case was filed in Manila against Rizal. June 26, 1892 – Rizal
and his sister Lucia arrived in Manila.
THE PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT
PROPAGANDA means a “campaign of information as well as a
bid for sympathy”. The Propaganda Movement was a campaign
by the native Filipinos calling for reforms in the Philippines.
According to Dr. Domingo Abella, it should have been called
Counter Propaganda Movement, because their essential task was
to counteract the campaign of misinformation that certain
Spanish groups were disseminating in Spain. The Movement
started in 1890 up to 1896.
PROMINENT MEMBERS: JOSE RIZAL – author of Noli Me
Tangere and El Filibusterismo. GRACIANO LOPEZ JAENA –
publisher of La Solidaridad. MARIANO PONCE – movement’s
secretary. MARCELO H. DEL PILAR.
AIMS: representation of the Philippines in the Cortes Generales;
secularization of the clergy; legalization of Spanish and Filipino
equality; creation of public school system independent of
Catholic friars; abolition of polo y servicios (labor service) and
the bandala (forced sale of local products to the government);
guarantee of basic freedoms; equal opportunity for the Filipinos
and Spanish to enter government service.
Directions: Read and understand each of the following questions
carefully. Answer item number 1, 2, 3, and 4 in not less than
three and not more than five sentences.
Questions:
1. Describe Dr. Jose Rizal as a student of higher education at
UST. (10 points).
_______________________________________________
2. Why did Dr. Jose Rizal decide to go and travel to Europe? (10
points).
_______________________________________________
3. After five years of travel in Europe, why is Dr. Jose Rizal so
determined to return home? (10 points).
_______________________________________________
4. What is the main reason why the La Solidaridad newspaper
was put up? (10 points).
_______________________________________________
5. With not less than and not more than three paragraphs, reflect
on the travel and life of Dr. Jose Rizal abroad. (20 points).
_______________________________________________