Gertrude Beckett

Background:
Gertrude Beckett, a blue-eyed, brown hair, rosy cheeks, thin lips and buxom girl, the oldest sister of the
three Beckett daughters, from London.

How they met:

From Japan and United States, Rizal went to his next destination which was London (Note: May 1888),
There he met Gertrude because she was the daughter of his landlord, Charles Beckett (Note: an organist
at St. Paul’s Church in the capital city of UK.).

NOTE: Fell in love with Rizal but some say it was just one-sided love because Rizal was not able to
reciprocate feelings. Rizal left London on March 19, 1889 so that Gertrude may forget him. But before
leaving, Rizal gave a finished composite carving of the heads of the Beckett sisters. As a remembrance.

Significant events that happened at that time:

She became his helping hand to finish his artworks like the “Prometheus Bond”, “The Triumph of Death
over Life”, and “The Triumph of Science over Death”, also at that time, Rizal was annotating the Sucesos
de las Islas Filipinas.
Nellie Boustead

Background:

The woman Rizal almost married, daughter of a wealthy businessman, Eduardo Boustead and a Filipina
mother.

How they met:

Rizal was housed by her family when he stayed Biarritz on February 1891at their residence, Villa Eliada.
Rizal and Nelly were both fond on fencing and they would always play sports.

NOTE: When Leonor Rivera married Henry Kipping, Rizal was devastated after hearing the news. He then
turned to Nellie, who reciprocated back his feelings and accepted his wedding proposal. Nellie’s mother
was not in favor of Rizal who doesn’t have a stable life in the future for her daughter, and Nellie pushed
Rizal that they would have the wedding if he converted to Protestantism which he refused.

Significant events that happened at that time:

Rizal started fencing and played other sports.

Suzanne Jacoby

Background:

A lady from Belgium, niece of Rizal’s new landladies in Belgium in January 1890

How they met:

During his 6-month stay in Brussels, Rizal and Suzanne had a great time together, even attended a
summertime festival in Belgium in 1890.

NOTE: In August 1890, Rizal left Belgium and gave the young Suzanne a box of chocolates. And in a letter
she sent him after two months, she stated there that the box is left untouched.

Significant events that happened at that time:

Josephine Bracken

Background:

18 years old petite Irish girl, with bold blue eyes, brown hair and a happy disposition. Josephine Bracken,
adopted daughter of George Taufer from Hong Kong.

How they met:

She came with her Step father because of finding Rizal for eye treatment. Rizal was physically attracted
to Josephine. Rizal asked Josephine to marry her, but she was not yet ready to make a decision due to
her responsibility to the blind Taufer. Since Taufer’s blindness was untreatable, he left Hong Kong on
March 1895. Josephine stayed with Rizal’s family in Manila. Upon her return to Dapitan, Rizal tried to
arrange with Father Antonio Obach for their marriage. However, the priest wanted a retraction as a
precondition before marrying them.

Significant events that happened at that time:

She gave birth prematurely to a stillborn baby because of shock or someone frightened her.