THE BIRTH OF A HERO

oNear midnight of Wednesday, June 19, 1861, a

frail and sickly baby boy was born to the Rizal
family in Calamba, Laguna
oBaptized by Rev. Rufino Collantes in the
Catholic church of Calamba on June 22, 1861,
three days after his birth
oWas named “Jose” in honor of St. Joseph (a
customary for Catholic parents to name their
children after the saints
oHis full name --- Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado
Y Alonso Realonda
oHe was the 7th of the 11 children of Don
Francisco Mercado and Doña Teodora Alonso
who were devoutly religious and educated
 Don Francisco Mercado
oBorn in Biñan, Laguna and died in
Manila at the age of 80
oAn educated farmer having studied
Latin and Philosophy at the Colegio de
San Jose in Manila
oMoved to Calamba after his mother’s
death and became a tenant-farmer of the
Dominican estate
oMarried to a College-bred Manileña,
Teodra Alonso
 Doña Teodora Alonso
oBorn in Manila and died at the age
of 85
oA graduate of Colegio de Santa
Rosa
oA talented woman with high
culture, business ability, and literary
gift
 The Rizal Children
Francisco and Teodora were blessed
by God with 11 children (2 boys and
9 girls)
oSaturnina -- the oldest/married to
Manuel Hidalgo
oPaciano -- the older brother/died
an old bachelor
oNarcisa -- married to Antonio
Lopez, a school
teacher
oOlympia -- married to Silvestre
Ubaldo, a telegraph
operator
oLucia -- married to Mariano
o Maria -- married to Daniel
Faustino Cruz
o Jose -- married to Josephine
Bracken
o Concepcion -- died at the age of 3
o Josefa -- did not marry/died an

old maid
o Trinidad -- died an old maid
o Soledad -- the youngest/married to
Pantaleon Quintero
 Ancestry of Rizal
oOn the Paternal side
His great-great-grandfather was a Chinese
named Domingo Lamco. Both his father’s
father and grandfather had been
capitanes (town mayors) of Biñan
oOn the Maternal side
His ancstor was believed to be the last
king
of Tondo, Lakandula. His great-great-
grandfather was Eugenio Ursua, of
Japanese
blood. His mother belonged to a clan of
gifted men. His mother’s brothers were
men
of unusual talents. His mother’s father,
Lorenzo Alberto Alonso was an engineer
who was awarded by Spain.
 Rizal’s First Formal
Schooling in Biñan
oHis mother was his first teacher who
encouraged him to write poetry
oHis parents employed private tutors to
give him lessons
oLeon Monroy, a former classmate of his
father, gave him his first lessons in Latin
oMaestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz was
his first teacher in Biñan--his first formal
school teacher
“When I entered his first class for the first time, that is, in his house
which was of nipa and low, about thirty meters away from my aunt’s
house…”

“He was tall, thin, long-necked, with sharp nose and body slightly bent
forward, and he used to wear a sinamay shirt, woven by the skilled
hands of the women of batngas, he knew by heart the grammar…”
o His education was centered on the
basic 4-R’s -- reading, writing,
arithmetic, and religion
o Instruction was rigid and strict.
Knowledge was forced in the mind of
the pupil though memory method and
enforceable by teacher’s whip for
corporal punishment was the rule at
that time for those delinquent and
pupils with poor memory
o He got his first school fight on the
very first day of his class with Pedro,
the naughtiest in the class and son of
his Maestro
o “He spoke to me in these words: Do you
know Spanish? A little Sir, I replied. Do you
know Latin? A little Sir, I answered. For
these replies, the teacher’s son, Pedro,
began to sneer at me. He was a few years
older than I and was taller than I,. We
fought, but I don’t know by what accident I
defeated him, throwing him down some
benches in the classroom…”
o In the afternoon, he got another fight
with a classmate, Andres Calundana
“…despite the reputation I had, the day was
unusual when I was not whipped or given 5 to
6
blows.”
o He learned his first lessons in painting
and drawing from the father-in-law of
his Maestro, Juancho, who lived near
the school
o He bested all the Biñan boys in the
academic studies -- in Spanish, Latin
and other subjects
o He left Biñan after studying for one
year and a half. He was on board
Talim, the first time in his life
 Triumphs in Ateneo,
1872-1877
oFour months after the martyrdom
of Gomburza and with Doña
Teodora still in prison, Rizal, who
had not yet celebrated his 11th
birthday, was sent to Manila.
Rizal Enters the Ateneo
oFr. Magin Ferrando -- the College
Registrar of Ateneo who refused at
first to admit Rizal because of two
reasons:
(1) He was late for registration;
and
(2) He was sickly and undersized
for his age
However, upon the intercession of
Manuel Xerex Burgos (nephew of
Fr. Burgos), Rizal was reluctantly
admitted at the Ateneo.
o Rizal was the first of his family
to adopt surname “Rizal”. He
registered under this name at the
Ateneo because their first family
name “Mercado” had come under
suspicion of the Spanish
authorities.
o Ateneo was formerly located in
Intramuros, within the walls of
Manila.
Jesuit System of Education
oAdvanced from that of other
colleges in that period because:
- it trained the character of the
student by rigid discipline and
religious instruction
- it promoted physical culture,
fine
arts and scientific studies
- it offered vocational courses in
agriculture, commerce, and
mechanics
- students heard mass in the
morning before the beginning of
the daily class
o Students were divided into two
(2) groups;
(1) Roman Empire -- internos
(borders)
(2) Carthaginian Empire
--externos
(non-
boprders)
Each had its ranks:
(1) emperor - best student
(2) tribune - 2nd best student
(3) decurion - 3rd best student
(4) centurion - 4th best student
(5) standard-bearer - 5th best student
First Year in Ateneo
oFr. Jose Bech – Rizal’s first professor
in the Ateneo
oBeing a newcomer and knowing little
Spanish, Rizal was placed at the
bottom of the class. He was an externo
and assigned to the Carthaginians,
occupying the end of the line
oAt the end of the month, he became
“emperor’
oHis first prize in Ateneo was a
religious picture
oTo imptove his Spanish, he took
lessons in Santa Isabel College
Summer Vacation
oWithout telling his father, he went
to Santa Cruz and visited his mother
in prison

Second Year in Ateneo

oAt the end of the school year, he
received excellent grades in all
subjects and a gold medal
Summer Vacation
oRizal visited his mother and
interpreted his mother’s dream --
that his mother would released from
prison in 3 months time
oRizal began to take interest in
reading romantic novels. He became
interested in love stories and
romantic tales.
oThe Count of Monte Cristo by
Alexander Dumas – his first favorite
novel
o Later, he read Travels in the
Philippines by Dr. Feudor Jagor,
the German scientist-traveler
who visited the Philippines
o Rizal was impressed in this book
because:
(1) Jagor’s keen observations of
the
defects of Spanish
colonization;
and
(2) His prophecy that someday
Spain would lose the
Philippines
and that America would come
to
Third Year in Ateneo
oRizal did not male an excellent
showing in his studies as in the
previous year, and he won only one
medal --- in Latin.
Fourth Year in Ateneo
oRizal became an internee
oFr. Francisco Sanchez -- his first
beloved professor in Ateneo who
inspired Rizal to study and write
poetry
Inspired by Fr. Sanchez, he won
5
medals at the end of the school
term
o Fr. Jose Villaclara -- advised
Rizal to stop communing with
the muses and pay more attention
to more practical studies, such as
Philosophy and Natural Sciences
o Fr. Lleonart -- requested Rizal to
carve for him an image of the
Scared Heart of Jesus
Extra-Curricular Activities in
Ateneo
oAn “emperor” inside the
classroom
oAn active member, later secretary
of the Marian Congregation
oA member of the Academy of
Spanish Literature and the academy
of Natural Sciences
Poems Written in Ateneo
oMi Primear Inspiracion (My First
Inspiration) -- Rizal’s first poem
written in the Ateneo which was
dedicated to his mother
oUn Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo (In
Memory of My Town) -- a tender
poem in honor of Calamba
oAllanza Intima Entre La Religion Y
La Buena Educacion (Intimate
Alliance Between Religion and Good
Education) -- Rizal showed the
significant role which education plays
in the progress and welfare of a nation
o Al Niño Jesus (To the Child
Jesus)
o A La Virgin Maria (To the
Virgin Mary)

First Romance
o Segunda Katigbak – Rizal’s first
love who was a pretty 14-year
old Batangueña from Lipa
-- close friend and co-boarder of
Rizal’s sister, Olympia, in La
Concordia College
RIZAL AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF
SANTO TOMAS
1877-82
MOTHER’S OPPOSITION TO
HIGHER EDUCATION
o Both Don Francisco and Paciano
wanted that Rizal should pursue
higher learning EXCEPT Doña
Teodora
o Evidently, Don Francisco and
Paciano were able to overcome
Doña Teodora’s objection
o It was finally decided that Rizal
shoul study in the University of
Santo Tomas
RIZAL ENTERS THE UNIVERSITY
o In April 1877, Rizal who was then
nearly 16 years old, matriculated in
the University of Santo Tomas
taking PHILOSOPHY AND
LETTERS. He enrolled in this
course for two reasons: (1) his
father liked it and
(2) he was still uncertain as to what
career to follow.
o The following school term, he took
MEDICINE for two reasons (1) to
cure his mother’s falling eyesight
and
(2) the Father Rector of the Ateneo,
whom he consulted for a choice of
FINISHES SURVEYING COURSE
IN ATENEO
o Rizal during his first school term
in the UST, also studied in the
Ateneo
o He took the vocational course
leading to the title of perito
agrimonsor (expert surveyor)
o At the age of 17, he passed the
fianl examination in the
surveying course, but he could
not be granted the title as
surveyor
ROMANCES WITH OTHER
GIRLS
o Rizal’s sad experience with
Segunda Katigbak made him
wiser in the ways of romance
o He paid court to a young woman
in Calamba, whom he called
simply Miss L, describing her as
“fair with seductive and
attractive eyes”
o He gave two reasons for his
change of heart, namely: (1) his
sweet memories of Segunda
Katigbak was still fresh in his
heart and (2) his father objected
o After Miss L, Rizal courted Leonor
Valenzuela (Orang), who was a tall
girl and a regal hearing
o Rizal’s romance with Leonor
Rivera, his cousin from Camiling,
was glamorized by modern writers
o Between Rizal and Leonor Rivera
(daughter of Rizal’s uncle Antonio
Rivera) sprang a tenderly beautiful
romance. They became engaged
o In her letters to Rizal, Leonor
signed her name as “Talmis”, in
order to camouflage their intimate
relationship from their parents and
friends.
VICTIM OF SPANISH
BRUTALITY
o When Rizal was a freshman
medical student at the UST, he
got his first taste of Spanish
brutality
A LA JUVENTUD FILIPINA (TO
THE FILIPINO YOUTH)
o The Liceo Artistico-Literario
(Artistic-Literary Lyceum) was a
society of literary men and artists
that held a literary contest
o Rizal’s first prize-winning poem, A
La Juventud Filipina, is an inspiring
poem of flawless form
o In this poem, Rizal beseeched the
Filipino youth to “rise from lethargy,
to let his genius fly swifter that the
wind and descend with art and
science to break the chain that has
long hound the poetic genius of the
country”
EL CONSEJO DE LOS DIOSES
(THE COUNCIL OF THE
GODS)
o The Liceo Artistico-Literario
opened another literary contest to
commemorate the fourth
centennial of the death of
Cervantes, Spain’s glorified man-
of-letters and fanous author of
Don Quixote
o This winning allegory of Rizal
was a literary masterpiece based
on classics
RIZAL’S OTHER LITERARY WORKS
o Junto Al Pasig (Beside Pasig) - a
drama which was staged by the
Ateneans on the occasion of the
annual celebration of the Feast Bay of
the Immaculate Concepcion, patroness
of the Ateneo
o A Filipinas – a sonnet which urged all
Filipino artists to glorify the
Philippines
o Abd-el-Azis y Mahoma – a poem
which was declaimed by an Atenean,
Manuel Fernandez, in honor of the
Ateneo’s Patroness
o AI M.B.P. Pablo Ramon – a poem
expressing Rizal’s affection to father
Pablo Ramon, the Ateneo Rector, who
had been so kind and helpful to him
RIZAL’S UNHAPPY DAYS
o Rizal was unhappy at UST’s
higher learning because:
(1) the Dominican professors
were hostile to him,
(2) the Filipino students were
racially discriminated, and
(3) the method of instruction was
obsolete and repressive
DECISION TO STUDY ABROAD
o After finishing the fourth year of
his medical course, Rizal decided
to study in Spain
o Rizal did not seek his parents’
permission and blessings to go
abroad.
THE END OF PRESENTATION