RIZAL’S BIRTH

June 19, 1861

- in a small town in the province of

Laguna, Jose Protacio Rizal
Mercado y Alonzo Realonda was
born, a legitimate son, according
to the birth certificate of Francisco
Mercado and Teodora Alonso.

- born beneath the skies of the

country he poetically called “Pearl
of the Orient”.
He was the seventh of eleven children,
the younger of two boys.

- Saturnina in 1850,
- Paciano in 1851,
- Narcisa in 1852,
- Olimpia in 1855,
- Lucia in 1857,
- Maria in 1859,
- Jose in 1861,
- Conception in 1862,
- Josefa in 1865,
- Trinidad in 1868,
- Soledad in 1870.
Three days after his birth; Rizal was baptized in the
Catholic church of Calamba on June 22, 1861 by Fr.
Rufino Collantes, a Filipino priest from Batangas. His
godfather was Pedro Casanas, a native of Calamba and
friend of Rizal’s family.

Calamba is a small town nestling at the foot of Mt.

Makiling as it slopes down to Laguna de Bay. Its scenic
environment gave the young Rizal the right impetus for
his poetic and artistic creativity. Its share of
unhappiness also shaped noble and heroic spirit. The
surroundings of his home opened to him the many
wonders of nature.
Francisco Mercado Rizal
- an industrious farmer whom
Rizal called "a model of
fathers," came from Biñan.

Teodora Alonzo y Quintos,

- a highly cultured and
accomplished woman whom
Rizal called "loving and
prudent mother," was born in
Meisic, Sta. Cruz, Manila.
At the age of 3,
 he learned the alphabet from
his mother;

at 5,
 while learning to read and
write, he already showed
inclinations to be an artist.
 He astounded his family and
relatives by his pencil
drawings and sketches and by
his moldings of clay.
At the age 8,
 he wrote a Tagalog
poem, "Sa Aking Mga
Kabata," the theme of
which revolves on the
love of one’s language.
In 1877, at the age of 16,
 he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree with an average
of "excellent" from the Ateneo Municipal de Manila. In
the same year, he enrolled in Philosophy and Letters at
the University of Santo Tomas, while at the same time
took courses leading to the degree of surveyor and expert
assessor at the Ateneo.
He finished the latter course on March 21, 1877 and
passed the Surveyor’s examination on May 21, 1878;
but because of his age, 17, he was not granted license
to practice the profession until December 30, 1881.

In 1878, he enrolled in medicine at the University of

Santo Tomas but had to stop in his studies when he
felt that the Filipino students were being
discriminated upon by their Dominican tutors.

On May 3, 1882, he sailed for Spain where he

continued his studies at the Universidad Central de
Madrid.
On June 21, 1884, at the age of 23, he was conferred
the degree of Licentiate in Medicine and on June 19,
1885, at the age of 24, he finished his course in
Philosophy and Letters with a grade of “excellent.”

Having travelled extensively in Europe, America and

Asia, he mastered 22 languages. These include
Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, English, French, German,
Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Malayan,
Portuguese, Russian, Sanskrit, Spanish, Tagalog, and
other native dialects.
He was an expert swordsman and a good shot. In the
hope of securing political and social reforms for his
country and at the same time educate his
countrymen, Rizal, the greatest apostle of Filipino
nationalism, published, while in Europe, several
works with highly nationalistic and revolutionary
tendencies.
In March 1887,
 his daring book, NOLI ME
TANGERE, a satirical novel
exposing the arrogance and
despotism of the Spanish
clergy, was published in
Berlin; in 1890 he reprinted in
Paris, Morga’s SUCCESSOS DE
LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS with his
annotations to prove that the
Filipinos had a civilization
worthy to be proud of even
long before the Spaniards set
foot on Philippine soil.
on September 18, 1891,
 EL FILIBUSTERISMO, his
second novel and a sequel to
the NOLI and more
revolutionary and tragic than
the latter, was printed in
Ghent. Because of his fearless
exposures of the injustices
committed by the civil and
clerical officials, Rizal
provoked the animosity of
those in power.
This led himself, his relatives and countrymen into
trouble with the Spanish officials of the country.

As a consequence, he and those who had contacts

with him were shadowed; the authorities were not
only finding faults but even fabricating charges to
pin him down.

Thus, he was imprisoned in Fort Santiago from July

6, 1892 to July 15, 1892 on a charge that anti-friar
pamphlets were found in the luggage of his sister
Lucia who arrives with him from Hong Kong.
When the Philippine Revolution started on August 26,
1896, his enemies lost no time in pressing him down. 

They were able to enlist witnesses that linked him with

the revolt and these were never allowed to be
confronted by him.

Thus, from November 3, 1886, to the date of his

execution, he was again committed to Fort Santiago. In
his prison cell, he wrote an untitled poem, now known
as "Ultimo Adios" which is considered a masterpiece
and a living document expressing not only the hero’s
great love of country but also that of all Filipinos.
After a mock trial, he was convicted of rebellion, sedition and of
forming illegal association.
In the cold morning of December 30, 1896, Rizal, a man whose
35 years of life had been packed with varied activities which
proved that the Filipino has capacity to equal if not excel even
those who treat him as a slave, was shot at Bagumbayan Field.
Rizal’s Ancestry
As typical Filipino, Rizal was a product of the mixture of
races.

In his veins flowed the blood of both East and West.
Predominantly, he was a Malayan and was a magnificent
specimen of Asian manhood. Rizal's great-great grandfather
on his father side was Domingo Lam-co, a Chinese
immigrant from the Fukien city of Changchow, who arrived
in Manila in about 1690.

He became a Christian, married a well-to-do Chinese

Christian Girl of Manila named Inez de la Rosa, and
assumed in 1731 the surname Mercado, which was
appropriate for him because he was a merchant.
From Parián, the family migrated to Biñan and
became tenants in the Dominican estate. Lam-co’s
son, Francisco, who was to be Rizal’s great
grandfather was taken, witty and liberal young man.

He became quite well-to-do and popular enough to

be appointed municipal captain of Biñan in 1783.

The family adopted the surname “Mercado” to free

the younger generation from the prejudices that
followed those with a Chinese name.
After which they settle down in Calamba, where they
engaged in farming and business and reared a big family.

Francisco Mercado’s wife, Bernanda Monicha, was a Chinese

mestiza. They were blessed with two children: Juan and
Clemente. Juan married Cirila Alejandra, also a Chinese
mestiza.

The couple had fourteen children, including Francisco who

was to be Rizal’s father.

Francisco and two of his sisters moved to Dominican estate

in Calamba and became pioneer farmers.
At the age of eight, Francisco Mercado lost his father
and grew up to manhood under the care of his
mother.

He studied Latin and Philosophy in the College of

San Jose in Manila.

While studying in Manila, He met and fell in love

with Teodora Alonso Realonda, a Student in the
College of Santa Rosa. They were married on June
28, 1848.
It is said that Doña Teodora's family descended from Lakandula, the
last native king Tondo.

Her great-grandfather, Rizal's maternal great-great-grandfather,

Eugenio Ursua (of Japanese ancestry), who married a Filipina
named Benigna (surname unknown).

Their daughter, Regina, married Manuel de Quintos, Filipino-

Chinese lawyer from Pangasinan.

One of the daughters of Atty. Quintos and Regina was Brigida, who
married Lorenzo Alberto Alonso, a prominent Spanish-Filipino
mestizo of Biñan. 

Their children were Narcisa, Teodora (Rizal's mother), Gregorio,

Manuel, and Jose.
Materially, socially, and professionally, the family of
Teodora Alonso was better off than the family of her
husband.

In those days when professionals were few, the

Alonso clan could boast of a number of lawyers,
priests, engineers and government officials.

Teodora, Rizal’s mother whose parents were Lorenzo

Alberto Alonso and Brigida Ochoa belonged to
professionally famous family from Baliuag, Bulacan.
Important Dates of Rizal in Calamba, Laguna
19 June 1861
 JOSE RIZAL, the seventh child of Francisco Mercado Rizal and
Teodora Alonso y Quintos, was born in Calamba, Laguna.

22 June 1861

 He was baptized JOSE RIZAL MERCADO at the Catholic of
Calamba by the parish priest Rev. Rufino Collantes with Rev.
Pedro Casañas as the sponsor.

28 September 1862

 The parochial church of Calamba and the canonical books,
including the book in which Rizal’s baptismal records were
entered, were burned.
1864
 Barely three years old, Rizal learned the alphabet
from his mother.

1865
 When he was four years old, his sister Conception,
the eight children in the Rizal family, died at the age
of three. It was on this occasion that Rizal
remembered having shed real tears for the first time.
1865 – 1867
 During this time his mother taught him how to read and write.
His father hired a classmate by the name of Leon Monroy who,
for five months until his (Monroy) death, taught Rizal the
rudiments of Latin.

 At about this time two of his mother’s cousin frequented

Calamba. Uncle Manuel Alberto, seeing Rizal frail in body,
concerned himself with the physical development of his young
nephew and taught the latter love for the open air and
developed in him a great admiration for the beauty of nature,
while Uncle Gregorio, a scholar, instilled into the mind of the
boy love for education. He advised Rizal: "Work hard and
perform every task very carefully; learn to be swift as well as
thorough; be independent in thinking and make visual pictures
of everything."
6 June 1868
 With his father, Rizal made a pilgrimage to Antipolo
to fulfill the vow made by his mother to take the
child to the Shrine of the Virgin of Antipolo should
she and her child survive the ordeal of delivery
which nearly caused his mother’s life.

 From there they proceeded to Manila and visited his

sister Saturnina who was at the time studying in the
La Concordia College in Sta. Ana.
1869
 At the age of eight, Rizal wrote his first poem
entitled "Sa AkingMgaKabata." The poem was
written in tagalog and had for its theme "Love of
One’s Language” in Biñan, Laguna

1870
 His brother Paciano brought Rizal to Biñan, Laguna.
He was placed under the tutelage of Justiniano
Aquino Cruz, studying Latin and Spanish. In this
town he also learned the art of painting under the
tutorship of an old painter by the name of Juancho
Carrera.
17 December 1870
 Having finished his studies in Biñan, Rizal returned
to Calamba on board the motorboat Talim. His
parents planned to transfer him to Manila where he
could continue his studies.
 Back in Calamba

1871
 His mother was imprisoned in Sta. Cruz, Laguna for
allegedly poisoning the wife of her cousin Jose
Alberto, a rich property owner of Biñan and brother
of Manuel and Gregorio.
1872
 For the first time, Rizal heard of the word
“filibustero” which his father forbids the members of
his family to utter, including such names as Cavite
and Burgos. (It must be remembered that because of
the Cavite Mutiny on January 20, 1872, Fathers
Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora
were garroted at Bagumbayan Field on February 17,
1872.)