CHAPTER 4:

RIZAL’S LIFE:
HIGHER
EDUCATION AND
LIFE ABROAD
Overview

• This Chapter presents Dr. Jose Rizal’s life in relation to

his higher education in the Philippines, specifically his
time at the Ateneo de Municipal, University of Santo
Tomas and his education abroad.
• This chapter will also discuss his life in other countries,
specifically his achievements, higher education and
travels.
Overview
• This section will also go over Dr. Jose Rizal’s life when
he went abroad to further his education.
Summary:
• From 1872-1882, Jose Rizal spent nearly ten years in
Manila to complete his secondary education and tertiary
eduaction
• His early education was in Binan.
• His father’s first choice of school was the College of
Juan de Letran, but he changed his mind and enroll him
at the Ateneo de Municipal together with his brother
Paciano
Summary:
• Despite the imprisonment of his mother, Teodora, Rizal
was able to bring honor to his family.
• He excelled in all subjects and was recognized as the
“Pride of the Jesuits” and the “Most Brilliant Atenean in
his time”
• After his graduation, Rizal decided to continue his
studies at UST
• He started with Philosophy and Letters as his course
then later on proceeded to take up medicine.
Summary:
• He experienced brutality during his first year at UST.
• He met Leonor Rivera, whom she fell in love.
• He left UST after four years and went on to study
abroad.
• He left the country twice and was able to further his
education and specialized in medicine in Europe.
Summary:
• He was involved in various organizations such as the
Propaganda Movement , the Masonic Ledge, and the
Kidlat Club, La Solidaridad and many others.
• He also met and adored a number of women.
• He was able to travel to countries of Euerope, America,
and Asia.
• He had written a number of peoms, essays,and novels
Summary:

• He wrote the constitution of La Liga Filipina, which he

intended to organize in the country during his second
coming.
 Table of contents
1 Rizal’s Education in Manila

2 Rizal’s First Travel Abroad

3 Higher Education 05
4 Propaganda Movement
 Table of contents
Rizal’s Specialization in Medicine and
5
His other Achievement
6 Publication of Noli Me Tangere

7 Second Travel Abroad

8 Publication of El Felibusterismo
RIZAL’S EDUCATION IN
MANILA (1872-1882)
Ateneo de
Municipal
Experience
 Jose was sent to Manila to study at the Ateneo de
Municipal, a school run by Spanish Jesuits
 This school later named Ateneo de Manila
 On his first day in Manila, he was accompanied by his,
Paciano
 The first school where he took the entrance
examination was the college of San Juan de Letran
He was initially denied admission to the said school for
two reasons:
1. He was already late for registration
2. He was frail and sickly, in addition to being too small
for his age
 However, Jose was accepted because of the intervention
of Manuel Xeres Burgos, the nephew of Jose Burgos
◈ The Jesuits, the best educators in Spain. Their power to
administer parishes was limited except Mindanao.
◈ Ateneo Municipal first opened in 1865
◈ Jose took the surname Rizal when he was enrolled in
Ateneo because,the family name Mercado had raised
suspicions among the authorities
◈ He and his brother, Paciano, find a house on Calle
Carballo, in Sta. Cruz
◈ Jose took private Spanish lesson during recess at Santa
Isabel College,to improve his knowledge and fluency.

Father Jose Bech – Jose’s first teacher

◈ At the end of every semester, he received excellent

grades in all subjects and examination.
◈ The second year, Jose had the same professor as in the previous
year but; instead lodging outside the city, he resided at No.6 Calle
Magallanes.
◈ At the end of the term he obtained a medal and upon returning to
his town, he again revisited his mother in jail alone.
◈ The release of her mother, caused in his spirit and had a
significant impact on the outcome of his studies in the third year,
as he began to win prizes in the quarterly examinations.
 The Count of Monte Cristo, authored by Alexandre Druma
is one of his favorite novels.
 It is the first foregn book read by Rizal
 The story of the wrongs suffered by the prisoner of the
Chateau d’lf recalled the injustice done to his mother .
 Feodor Jagor’s “Travels in the Philippines”, the book
which had greatest influence upon the young man’s career.
 It suggested that it was the fate of the North American
republic to develop and bring to their highest prosperity the
lands which Spain had conquered and Christianized
- with sword and cross.
 Rizal, however, that it was desirable first for the Islanders to
become btter able to the meet the strong competition of the
vigorous young people of the New World, for under Spain the
Philippines had dreamed way its past.
 Jose became an intern or boarding student in college the
following year.
 Father Francisco Paula de Sanchez, was his professor in
the fourth year of his studies.
 Jose described him as a model of decency, solicitude, and
- love for the students.
 Jose was in short in stature, and he attempted to correct his
flaw by participating in gymnastics and fencing on a regular
basis.
 In drawing and painting he was under the guidamce and
direction of the Ateneo professor, the Peninsula Don
Augustin Saez, who honored him with his affection and
consideration because of his progress.
 In sculpture his instructor was a Filipino, Romualdo de
Jesus, who felt proud in the last years of his life of having
had such an excellent pupil.
 Rizal was also expert in
carving.

 He had carved an image of

the Virgin of such grace and
beauty that one of the Fathers
asked him to try an image of
the Sacred Heart.
 Under the guidance of Professor Father Francisco, Rizal
honed his poetic langauge in his fourth year.

Rizal’s poems:
Felicitacion (Felicitation); El Embarque: Himno a la Flota de
Magallanes (The Departure: Hymn to Magellan’s Fleet); Y Es
Espanyol: Elcano, El Primero en dar la Vuelta del Mundo (And
He is Spanish: Elcano, the First to Circumnavigate the World);
El Combate: Urbiztondo, Terror de Jolo; Por la Educacion
Recibe Lustre de Patria ( Through Education, the Motherland
Receives Enlightenment); Allanza Intima Entra la Religion y la
 Buena Educacion (Intimate
Alliance Between Religion and
Good Education); (In Memory of
my Town)

 Rizal’s Favorite Ateneo

teacher, Father de Sanchez
 Paid a visit to Rizal in exile in
Dapitan and assisted him in
establishing a school for
Dapitan Boys
Segunda Katigbak
 A Lipa girl from a wealthy clan
who was sent to La Concordia
at a young age by her parents.
 A close friendship with
Olimpia, Rizal’s sister, and he
has a friendship with Mariano
Katigbak, Segunda’s brother.
 She was 14 years old when
she met Pepe, who was 16 at
the time.
Segunda Katigbak
 They first met at Rizal’s grandmother’s house in
Trozo, Manila, which is now known as Tutuban.
 They saw each other frequently, and Rizal, who was
smitten by her would sketch her and write poems
about her.
 Before he could make a move, he was aware that
Segunda has been promised to marry Manule Luz Y
Metra, a tall and wealthy man from Lipa.
 He couldn’t muster to label them.
 He had several chances, but his immature heart and
mind let it all slip through his fingers.
Univeristy of
Santo Tomas
Experience
 Rizal was enrolled in the UST in April 1877, when he was
nearly 16 years old, to study Philosohpy and Letters.
 He enrolled in this course for two reasons:
1. his father liked it
2. he was still unsure on what career to pursue
 He wrote to Father Pablo Ramon, the Rector of Ateneo to
seek advice on a career choice.
 (1877-1879)- He studied Cosmology, Metaphysics,
Theodicy, and Philosophy History
 (1878-1879)- Rizal began studying medicine
 He pursued medicine for the following reasons:
1. He desired to be a physician in order to cure his
mother’s failing eyesight,
2. Father Ramon, whom he consulted finally responded
to his letter, recommending medicine

 He enrolled in the Ateneo vocational course – perito

agrimensor (expert in surveying) while studying at the
UST.
 Relationship with other Women
 He was a romantice daydreamer who sip the “nectar
of love”
 His first experience with his first love taught him a
valuable lesson in the ways of romance.
 He paid court with Miss L, shortly after losing
Segunda Katigbak. He described her as “fair with
seductive and attractive eyes”
 The romance died of natural causes after several
visits.
 During his sophomore year at the UST, he boarded at
Doňa Concha Leyva’s house in Intramuros.
 Capitan Juan and Capitana Sanday Valenzuela , the
parents of lovely girl named Leonor, lived next door.
 Rizal as a medical student from Calamba, was always
welcome visitor at the Valenzuela’s home.
 He courted Leonor Valenzuela (Orang), a tall girl with
a regal bearing who was “almost as tall as Jose
himself”.
 He wrote her love letters in invinsible ink that is made
from water and table salt.
 He did not, however, propose marriage to Orang, as
he did to Segunda
 Leonor Rivera, Rizal’s next relationship, and his
cousin from Camiling
 In his junior year, he resided at No. 6 Calle Santo
Tomas, Intramuros, in “Casa Tomasina” – run by his
uncle, Antonio Rivera
 Leonor, was the landlord’s daughter who was studying
at La Concordia College at the time, where Soledad
(Rizal’s younger sister) was enrolled.
 Leonor was described as “tender as a budding flower
with kindy, wistful eyes.
 A tenderly beautiful romance blossomed between
them and decided to get married.
 To keep their relationship hidden, Leoner signed her
letters to Rizal as “Taimis”

Leonor Rivera
 Victim of Brutality by a Spanish Officer
 Rizal first encountered Spanish brutality as a
freshman medical student at the UST.
 During his summer vacation in Calamba in 1880, he
was slashed by a sword in his back for not recognizing
the Guardia Civil lieutenant.
 When he recovered, he informed General Primo de
Rivera about the incident but the complaint went
nowhere. Because he was an Indio and the abusive
lieutenant was a Spaniard.
 In the year 1879, Rizal, entered a literary contest
sponsored by Artistico-Literario (Artistic-Literary
Lyceum) and submitted his poem A La Juventud
Filipina (To the Filipino Youth)
 Fortunately, he won first place and was presented with
a feather-shaped and gold-decorated silver pen.
 In the poem, Rizal implored the Filipinos to rise from
their slumber, to let their genius fly faster than the
wind, and to descend with art science to break the
chains that had long bound the people’s spirit.
 For two reason, the poem is considered classic:
1. It was the frist great poem wrtitten in Spanish by a
Filipino whose worth was recognized by Spanish literary
authorities.
2. It articulated for the first time the nationalistic
notion that Filipinos, not foreigners, were the “true hope
of the Fatherland.”
 The Artistic-Literary Lyceum held another literary
contest. Rizal entered the competition and received
the first prize for the second time.
 His winning literary work is the allegorical drama, El
Consejo de los Dioses (The Council of the Gods).
 Rizal published other works, including Abd-el-Azis y
Mahoma in 1879.
 Junto al Pasig (Beside the Pasig), a zarzuela
performed by the Ateneans on the Feast Day of the
Immaculate Conception, Patroness of the Ateneo, on
December 8, 1880.
 It was written by Rizal while he was President of the
Academy of Spanish Literature.
 Rizal wrote A Filipinas,a sonnet, for the album of the
Society of Sculptors in 1880 to urge all Filipino artists
to glorify the country.
 He wrote Al M.R.P. Pablo Ramon,a poem in tribute to
the Ateneo’s rector Father Pablo Ramon.
 Rizal established Companerismo (Comradeship), a
secret society of Filipino students at UST. It happened
because there were frequent student brawls between
Filipino and Spanish students.
 Rizal was the society’s chief, and his cousin, Galicano
Apacible, was the secretary.
 One day in a class in medicine the professor made
statements directly contrary to the textbooks and then
refused to permit discussion or to give any
explanation, so Rizal decided he was wasting his time
to remain in the university. He made up his mind to go
to Europe to study.
 Rizal’s academic performance in UST was not as
impressive as that in Ateneo.
 Rizal decided to continue his studies in Spain shortly
after finishing his fourth year of medical school.
 Despite his enormous literary successes, he was
dissatisfied with his stay at the Dominican-owned
school these reasons:
1. The Dominican professors were hostile to him.
2. The Spaniards discriminated the Filipino students
based on their race.
3. The teaching method was antiquated and oppresive
4. He did not receive high scholastic honors as a result
of his professor’s attitude.
 His decision to continue his education abroad was
supported by his brother Paciano,
- his two sisters Saturnina and Lucia,as well as his
uncle Antonio Rivera and some of his close friends .
 They keep his decision from his parents.
 Paciano agreed to send a monthly allowance of
P35.00
 In addition to studying in Spain, he was on a covert
mission. This mission was to closely observe the life
and culture, languages and customs, industries and
commerce, government and laws of the European
nations in order to prepare himself for the monumental
task of liberating his oppressed people from Spanish
tyranny.