Jose grew up in a wealthy family and was a child prodigy.

He learned the alphabet by the age of

3. He could both read and write by the age of 5. He graduated from the Ateneo Municipal de
Manila at age 16 and enrolled as a medical student at the University of Santo Tomas in 1878.
He is none other than, Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado. The pride of the Malayan race was born on
June 19, 1861, in the town of Calamba, Laguna. They used to call him “Pepe” as his nickname
and he belonged to a big family of thirteen members including his parents. Rizal’s father,
Francisco Mercado Rizal was a diligent and hard-working farmer whom Rizal called “a model of
fathers.” His father’s hometown was in Biñan, Laguna. While his mother, Teodora Alonzo y
Quintos was a very successful woman whom Rizal called “loving and prudent mother.” His
mother’s hometown was in Meisic, Sta. Cruz, Manila. Rizal’s parents were both carreer-oriented
persons, wealthy land owners, and they belonged to a recognized family. Rizal was the seventh
child among his nine siblings, namely: Saturnina Rizal, eldest child of the Rizal-Alonzo
marriage, Paciano Rizal, only brother of Jose Rizal and the second child,Narcisa Rizal, the third
child, Olympia Rizal, the fourth child, Lucia Rizal, the fifth child, Maria Rizal, the sixth child,
Concepcion Rizal, the eight child who died at the age of three, Josefa Rizal, the ninth child
whose an epileptic, Trinidad Rizal, the tenth child who was the last of the family to dieand
Soledad Rizal, the youngest child.
At an early age of three, he started to learn alphabet and prayers. When he reached the age of
five, he learned how to read and write. At the age of eight, he wrote his first poem which was
written in Tagalog. It was entitled, “Sa AkingMgaKababata.” The poem has a meaningful
message which has a theme, “Love of One’s Language.”
His parents hired private tutors for Rizal and they were Maestro Celestino, Maestro Lucas and
Leon Monroy.But the idea of employing private tutors didn’t satisfy his young mind’s eagerness
for knowledge and the family started to complete their son’s admission to Ateneo Municipal de
Manila. While he was studying in Manila, Jose Rizal took a degree in Land surveying and
Assessment where he graduated with honors on March 14, 1877. He successfully passed the
Licensure exam on the said course in 1878 and he was given a license when he reached the age
of 21. It was the year 1878 when he completed his degree from Ateneo Municipal de Manila and
he followed his passion in Arts. He had his admission at the Faculty of Arts and Letters which
has a degree in Philosophy at the University of Santo Tomas. Unfortunately, Jose Rizal had to set
aside his degree in Philosophy when he heard his mother’s impending blindness so he needed to
prioritize his mother’s situation. It made him decide to study Medicine and in it was year 1878
when he had his admission in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at University of Santo Tomas to
specialize Ophthalmology.

educated at the Ateneo de Manila where he achieved high scholastic and literary honors, and
partly at the University of Santo Tomas, where he studied medicine. In 1882 he went to Europe
and completed his medical studies at the University of Madrid.
On her lap. Rizal learned the basics – the alphabet, stories and catechism and was also able to
read the Spanish version of the vulgate Bible and even memorize prayer. It was his mother Doña
Teodora who thought him. As his teacher, she was very patient and understanding. Rizal was also
good in poetry. She encourages him to pursue making beautiful poems. He was also able to
enrich young Rizal’s imagination through narrating stories.