José Rizal

And Dr. José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo

Realonda ( 19 June 1861– 30 December 1896 ) was a
Filipino hero and one of the most famous proponents of
change in the Philippines during the Spanish conquest.
He is recognized as the best hero and is listed as one of
the national heroes of the Philippines by the Board of
National Heroes.

Rizal was born into a wealthy clan in Calamba, Laguna

and is the seventh of eleven children of the couple
Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y Alejandro and
Teodora Morales Alonzo Realonda y Quintos. He
studied at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila , and earned
a diploma in the Bachelor of Arts and studied medicine
at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila . He
continued his studies at the Universidad Central de
Madrid in Madrid , Spain , and obtained a Medical
License , which gave him the right to practice medicine.
He also studied atUniversity of Paris and University of
Heidelberg .

A polimata Rizal; besides medicine he was good at

painting, drawing, sculpting and engraving. He is a poet,
writer, and novelist whose most famous works are the
novel Noli Me Tángere , and its subsequent El
filibusterismo . Rizal is also a poliglota, who
understands twenty-two languages.

José Rizal founded La Liga Filipina , the organization

that paved the way for the formation of the Katipunan
led by Andrés Bonifacio , which was a secret
organization that started the Philippine Revolution against Spain which formed the basis of the First Republic of the
Philippines in under Emilio Aguinaldo . He advocated for the Philippines to have its own government in a peaceful way
rather than a violent revolution, which would only support violence as a last resort. Rizal believed that the only justification
for liberating the Philippines and having its own government was to restore the dignity of the people, and he said "Why
freedom, if today's slaves will be oppressors of the future?" The general consensus among Rizal's life experts was that his
execution prompted the start of the Philippine Revolution .

Rizal is best known for his two novels, Noli Me Tangere , published in Berlin , Germany (1886) with the help of Dr.
Maximo Viola, and El Filibusterismo , published in Gante, Belgica (1891); Valentin Ventura lent him 300 pesos for the
printing of El Filibusterismo. They contain descriptions and criticisms of the events taking place in Philippine society at that
time. These books are adapted from Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes , a Spanish writer. These became the way to awaken
the hearts and souls of the Filipinos.
 Rizal had been very vocal against the Spanish government, but in a peaceful and progressive manner. For him, “the pen
was mightier than the sword.” And through his writings, he exposed the corruption and wrongdoings of government officials
as well as the Spanish friars.

While in Barcelona, Rizal contributed essays, poems, allegories, and editorials to the Spanish newspaper, La Solidaridad.
Most of his writings, both in his essays and editorials, centered on individual rights and freedom, specifically for the Filipino
people. As part of his reforms, he even called for the inclusion of the Philippines to become a province of Spain.

But, among his best works, two novels stood out from the rest – Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo
(The Reign of the Greed).

In both novels, Rizal harshly criticized the Spanish colonial rule in the country and exposed the ills of Philippine society at
the time. And because he wrote about the injustices and brutalities of the Spaniards in the country, the authorities banned
Filipinos from reading the controversial books. Yet they were not able to ban it completely. As more Filipinos read the
books, their eyes opened to the truth that they were suffering unspeakable abuses at the hands of the friars. These two novels
by Rizal, now considered his literary masterpieces, are said to have indirectly sparked the Philippine Revolution.

References:
https://theculturetrip.com/asia/philippines/articles/the-life-and-legacy-of-jose-rizal-the-philippines-national-hero/