Chapter 1

A HERO IS BORN, 1861

I was born in Kalamba on the 19 th of june 1861 between eleven and twelve o clock ta night,a Few days before the full of the moon. DR. JOSE RIZAL, the greatest hero of the Philippines, was a many splendored genius. He was richly dowered by God with super intellectual, moral, and physical qualities. Truly he ranks with the world s genius. He was an anthropologist, botanist, businessman, cartographer, dramatist, economist, educator, engineer, essayist, entomologist, ethnologist, farmer, folklorist, geographer, grammarian, historian, horticulturist, humorist, linguist, lexicographer, musician, novelist, painter, physician, poet, philologist, philosopher, polemist, psychologist, satirist, sculptor, sportsman, sociologist, surveyor, Traveler and zoologist.

The baby boy was baptized by rev. Rufino Collantes In the catholic church of Calamba on June 22, 1861, Three days after his birth. His godfather was

Rev. Pedro Casaas. He was named Jose by his Pious mother, in honor of St. Joseph. It was Customary for catholic parents to name their children After the saints.

The full name of the baby boy, who was destined To became the greatest genius and hero of the Philippines, was Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado Alonzo Realonda. Parents, Jose was the seventh of the eleven Children of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonzo Realonda both mother and father were model Filipino parents de-voutly religious, educated, Industrious, affectionate but strict, hospitable, and Civic-spirited. The Rizal children. God blessed the marriage of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Toedora Alonzo Realonda With eleven children-two boys and nine girls. These Children were as follows: 1. Saturnina (1850-1930). She was the oldest of the Rizal children she married Manuel T. Hidalgo of Tanawan Batangas. 2. Paciano (1851-1930). He was the older brother of Dr. Jose Rizal.

3. Narcisa (1852-1939). She married Antonio Lopez, a school teacher of morong Rizal. 4. Olympia (1855-1877). She married Silvestre Ubaldo, atelegraph operator from manila. 5. Lucia (1857-1919). She married Mariano Herbosa of Calamba. 6. Maria (1859-1945). She married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Bian, Laguna. 7. Jose (1861-1896). The Lucky seven in a family of eleven children. He married Josephine bracken, a pretty iris from Hongkong. 8. Concepcion (1862-1865). She died at the age of three. 9. Josefa (1865-1945). She did not marry; she died on oln maid. 10. Trinidad (1868-1951). She died on old maid, like josefa. 11. Soledad (1870-1929). She was the youngest of Rizal children. She married pantaleon quintero of calamba The original name of the Rizal family was Mercado. It was a surname adopted in 1731 by Domingo lam-co, the paternal chinise ancestor. In English, it means Market . Evidently, Lam-co liked it because it reminded him of his chinchew ancestor who were mostly merchants.

The Rizal family was one of the richest families during in Calamba the time prior to its persecution by the friars. Rizal s parents, by their industries and frugality, were able to honestly build up a large fortune. By present-days standard, they were rich. They were the first to build a large stone house in calamba, the fist two own a carruaje (horse-drawn carriage), the first to have a home library (estimated to consist of more than 1,000 volumes), and the first to educate their children in the college of manila.