Life of Dr.

Jose Rizal
Birth and Early years
● Born: June 19, 1861 in Calamba, Laguna
● Seventh of the eleventh children of Don Francisco Rizal and
Dona Teodora Alonzo, and the youngest of the only two
male children (Paciano being the oldest among the two).
● Rizal had Chinese ancestry, with his paternal great-great-
grandfather from Fukien with the surname Lamco. It was
then changed to Mercado.
● He came from the principalia class, with their agricultural
products from farms rented from the Dominicans providing
them wealth.
Birth and Early Years
Education
● Received first education under his mother, ultimately attending primary
school in Binan. Here, he had painting class and was a consistent top
student in his class.
● Got exposed to the execution of the GomBurza from the stories of
Paciano regarding his mentor Jose Burgos.
● Studied at Ateneo from 1872-1877 for his secondary education, where
he excelled in every subject. He then pursued his Medicine degree at
UST from 1877-1882, taking up Philosophy and Letter and a surveyor
course prior.
● Eventually, he went to Madrid and finished his Medicine course at the
Universidad Central de Madrid, disgusted by the racially-prejudiced
Dominican professors that discouraged him to excel in his subjects.
Life overseas
● He arrived in Europe and was able to mingle with not only
his fellow ilustrados, but with other liberal Spanish officials
as well. In fact, he joined the Freemasonry after realizing it
to be the way to attack the friars without being intimidated
by their powers and influence, using his association with the
group as his defense.
● He also suffered hardships, sometimes not being able to eat
because of lack of funds. To make matters worse, the
situation in Calamba was worsening, as friars began taxing
the tenants of their lands excessively. This lead to tensions
between the two parties.
The Noli and El Fili
● In 1887, he published his first book: Noli Me Tangere in Berlin
with the financial help from Maximo Viola. It was praised by his
colleagues and friends, but was heavily criticized by the friars, who
felt that it was a direct attack on the Church.
● Upon his return to Manila in 1887, he was immediately invited
over to Malacanang by Governor-General Emilio Terrero with
regards to his novel. After given a copy by Rizal and reading it,
Governor Terrero found no evidence of subversive messages in it.
● But that did not stop the friars from censoring the book. Eventually,
they recommended to cease distribution of the book, making it
even more popular among the masses who hated the Spaniards.
The El Fili and his return to the
Philippines
● The El Fili, on the other hand, was published in 1891. This
time, it was Valentin Ventura who assisted Rizal in the
publication.
● After publishing the El Fili, he briefly stayed in Hong
Kong, where he practiced opthalmology.
● He went back home in 1892 and established the La Liga
Filipina, eventually getting arrested four days after the
creation of the group. He was then exiled to Dapitan,
where he would stay for four years.
Dapitan
● Rizal stayed in Dapitan from 1892-1896, improving the
lives of the people there and initiating programs and
infrastructure projects for the town.
● He established a school for the local children, built a
waterworks system and relief map of Mindanao, used his
cash won in a lottery to engage in business, and sent
specimens to his friends at the academe in Europe for
scientific purposes.
● He also continued his career as a practicing optometrist,
where he would eventually meet Josephine Bracken.
●
Arrest, Trial, and Execution
● Wanting to volunteer as an Army Doctor in Cuba, Rizal and
Bracken left Dapitan for Manila. But he was arrested when he
arrived in Spain after his name got dragged into the revolution –
Bonifacio and the Katipunan have been using Rizal’s name in
their meetings and battle cries.
● He was defended by Don Luis Taviel de Andrande, the brother
of Rizal’s aide when he went home to Calamba in 1887.
● At first, Governor Ramon Blanco wanted to try Rizal fairly, but
Dominican friars replaced him with Governor Camilo de
Polavieja, who eventually signed his death warrant after a two-
day trial on December 28, 1896.
Arrest, Trial, and Execution
● Rizal spent the remaining hours of his life receiving visitors,
including his family, his defense counsel, and several of his Jesuit
professors. He married Josephine Bracken on the night of December
29, having signed a retraction statement.
● He wrote his final poem Mi Ultimo Adios and placed it in an alcohol
cooking stove which he gave to his sister Trinidad with instructions in
English “There is something inside.”.
● At 7:03AM, on December 30, 1896, Jose Rizal was shot by firing
squad at Bagumbayan Field (now Luneta Park). He was only 35 years
old. His remains were first buried at Paco Cemetery before being
transferred to Binondo until finally, it was laid to rest at the base of
the Rizal Monument in 1912.
 This work is licensed under
a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
It makes use of the works of
Kelly Loves Whales and Nick Merritt.