Life and Works of Rizal

Rizal’s Life: Family, Childhood and Early

Education
 Jose Rizal, was born on the moonlit night of Wednesday, June 19, 1861.
In Calamba Laguna Province.
 He was baptized in the Catholic Church of his town on June 22, by the
parish priest Father Rufino Collantes.
 His name ”Jose” was chosen by his mother who was devotee of the
Christian saint San Jose (St. Joseph)
 “Take good care of this child, for someday he will become a great man”
– -Father Rufino Collantes.
 Rizals’s Parents
 Francisco Mercado Rizal (The hero’s Father)
- was born in Biñan, Laguna, on May 11, 1818.
- He studied Latin and Philosophy at the College of San Jose in
Manila
- He was a hardy and independent- minded man, who talked less and
worked more, and was strong in body and valiant in spirit.
- He died in Manila on January 5, 1898, at the age of 80.
- Rizal affectionately called him “a model of fathers”
 Rizals’s Parents
 Teodora Alonso Realonda (The hero’s Mother)
- was born in Manila on November 8, 1826.
- Educated at the College of Santa Rosa, a well know college for girls
in the city.
- She was a remarkable woman, possessing refined culture,
literacy talent, business ability and fortitude of Spartan Woman.
- She knows literature and speaks Spanish, a mathematician and has
read many books.
- Donya Teodora died in Manila on August 16, 1911 at the age of 85.
 The Rizal Children
1. Saturnina (1850-1913)
- Oldest of Rizal children, Nicknamed Neneng.
2. Paciano (1851-1930)
Older brother and confident of Jose Rizal
Became a combat general.
He had 2 children by his mistress.
3. Narcisa (1852-1939)
Her pet name was Sisa and she married Antonio Lopez, a school teacher Of Morong.
4. Olimpia (1855-1887)
Ypia was her pet name:; she married Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph operator form Manila.
5. Lucia (1857-1919)
She married Mariano Herbosa of Calamba. Herbosa died of cholera in 1889 and was denied Christian burial because he was a brother in law of
Dr. Rizal
6. Maria (1859-1945)
- Biang was her nickname; she married Daniel Faustino Cruz, of Binan Laguna.
7. Jose (1861-1896)
- The greatest Filipino hero and peerless genius.
- his nickname was Pepe
- During his exile in Dapitan he lived with Josephine Bracken, Irisg girl from HK. He
had a son by her.
8. Conception (1862-1865)
- Her pet name was Concha; she died of sickness at the age of 3; her death was Rizal’s first
sorrow in life.
9. Josefa (1865-1945)
- her pet name was Panggoy; she died an old maid aged 80.
10. Trinidad (1868-1951)
- Trining was her pet; she died also maid at the aged 83.
11. Soledad (1870-1929)
- youngest of the Rizal children, her pet named choleng and she married Pantaleon Quintero
 The Surname Rizal.
 The real surname of the Rizal family was Mercado, which was
adopted in 1731 by Domingo Lamco (the paternal great-great-
grandfather of Jose Rizal), who was a full-blooded Chinese.

 Rizal family acquired a second surname Rizal which was given by a

Spanish alcalde mayor (provincial governor) of Laguna.
 A Good and Middle-Class Family
 The Rizal family belonged to the principalia, a town aristocracy
in Spanish Philippine. It was one of the distinguished families in
Calamba.
 By dint of honest and hard work and frugal living, Rizal’s
parent able to live well.
 From the farm, which were rented from the Dominican Order,
they harvested rice, corn and sugarcane. They raised pigs,
chicken and turkeys in their backyard.
 In addition to farming and raising, Doña Teodora
managed a general good store and operated a small
flour-mill and a home-made ham press.
 They owned a carriage, which was a status symbol of
the illustrados in Spanish.
 A private library (the largest in Calamba) which
consisted of more than 1000 volumes.
 The Hero’s First Sorrow
 The Rizal children were bound together by ties of love and companionship.
 Jose loved most the little Concha (Concepcion) He was year older than Concha.
He played with her and from her he learned the sweetness of sisterly love.
 Unfortunately, Concha died of sickness in 1865, when she was 3 years old.
 Jose, who was vey fond of her, cried bitterly at losing her. “When I was four
years old” he said, “I lost my little sister Concha, and then for the first time I
shed tears cause by love and grief…”
 The death of little Concha brought him his first sorrow.
 Earliest Childhood Memories
 Rizal was a frail, sickly and undersized child, he was tenderest care by his parents.
 His father built a little nippa cottage in the garden for him to play in the day time.
 Another childhood memory was the daily Angelus prayer, by the nightfall, Rizal related, his mother
gathered all the children at the house to pray the Angelus.
 He also remembered the happy moonlit nights at azotea after the nightly Rosary.
 A kind old woman was employed as an aya (nurse maid) to look after his comfort.
 Sometimes, when he did not like to take his supper, the aya would threaten him that rhe asuang,
nuno, tigbalang, or a terrible bearded and turbaned Bombay would come to take him if he would not
eat his supper.
 Recounting his childhood experience in his student memoirs,
Rizal wrote: “Thus my heart fed on somber and melancholic thoughts so that even while still a
child, I already wandered on wings of fantasy in the high regions of the unknown”
 Rizal Childhood Years
 He grew up in a happy home, ruled by good parents, bubbling with
joy and sanctified with God’s blessing.
 The happiest period of Rizal’s life was spent in this lakeshore in
Calamba.
 Rizal loved Calamba with all his heart and soul.
 In 1876, when he was 15 years old and was a student in the Ateneo
de Manila, he remembered his beloved town. Accordingly, he wrote
a poem Un Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo (In Memory of My Town)
 Since early childhood Rizal revealed his God-given
Artistic Talents talents for art. At the aged of 5, he began to make
sketches with his pencil and mold in clay and wax
objects which attracted his fancy.

 When Jose was a mere boy in Calamba, a religious banner which was always used during the fiesta
was spoiled.
 Upon the request of the town mayor, he painted in oil colors a new banner that delighted the town folks
because it was better than the original one.
 He loved to ride on a spirited pony which his father bought for him and take long walks in the
meadows and lakeshore with his black dog named Usman.
 One day when he was about 6 years old his sisters laughed at him for spending so much time making
those images rather than participating in their games.
 He kept silent as they laughed with childish glee. But as they were departing, he told them:
“All right laugh at me now! Someday when I die, people will make monuments and
images of me!”
 Early Education in Calamba and Biñan
Rizal had his early education in Calamba and Biñan. It was a typical schooling
that a son of an illustrado family received during his time, characterized by the 4 R’s ---
reading, writing, arithmetic and religion.
The Hero’s First Teacher – was his mother, who was a remarkable woman of good
character and fine culture. On her lap, he learned at the age of three the alphabet and the
prayers.
 As Jose grew older, his parents employed private tutors to give him lessons at home.
First was Maestro Celestino and the second, Maestro Lucas Padua. Later, an old
man named Leon Monroy, a former Monroy, a former classmate of Rizal’s father,
became the boy’s tutor. He instructed Jose in Spanish and Latin. Unfortunately, he did
not live long. He died five months later.
 After Monroy’s death, the hero’s parent decided to send their gifted son to a private
school in Biñan.
 Jose Goes to Biñan
One Sunday afternoon in June,
1869, Jose, after kissing the hands of his
parents and tearful parting form his sisters,
left Calamba for Biñan.
With his cousin named Leandro,
went sightseeing in the town. Instead of
enjoying the sights, Jose became depressed
because of homesickness.
“I remembered my home town, my
idolized mother, and my solicitous sisters.
Ah, how sweet to me was Calamba, my own
town, in spite of the fact, that is not as
wealthy as Biñan”
First Day in Biñan School
The next morning (Monday) Paciano
brought his younger brother to the school of
Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz.
Paciano knew the teacher quite well
beacause he had been a pupil under him before.
Immediately, Jose was assigned his seat
in the class. The teacher asked him:
“Do you know Spanish?”
“a little, sir.” he replied
“Do you know Latin?”
“a little, sir”
The boys in the class, especially Pedro, the
teacher’s son laughed at Jose’s answer.
 First School Brawl Daily Life in Biñan
In the afternoon of his first day in school. Jose led a methodical life in
Jose met the bully, Pedro. He was angry at this Biñan, almost Spartanin Simplicity.
bully for making fun at him during the Such a life contributed much to his
conversation with his teacher.
future development.
Jose challenged Pedro to fight. The 2 boys
It strengthened his body and soul.
wrestled furiously in the classroom. Jose,
having learned the art of wrestling form his
athletic Tio Manuel, defeated the bigger boy for
his feat, he became the popular among his
classmates.

In succeeding days he had other fights with

the boys of Biñan. He was not quarrelsome by
nature, but he never ran away from the fight.
 Best Student in School End of Biñan Schooling
In academic studies, Jose beat all
He left Biñan on Saturday
Biñan boys. He surpassed them all in
Spanish, Latin, and other subjects.
afternoon, December 17, 1870, after one
year and a half of schooling in that town.
Some his older classmate were He was thrilled to take passage on the
jealous of his intellectual superiority . They
streamer Talim, for it was the first time he
wickedly squealed to the teacher whenever
Jose had a fight outside the school. ever rode on a steamer.
Thus Rizal said that “in spite of
the reputation I had being a good boy, the
day was unusual when I was not laid out
on bench and given five or six blows”