RIZAL AND HIS CHILDHOOD

YEARS
CALAMBA AT THE TIME OF RIZAL’S BIRTH
 Calamba is an enchanted town.
 It was an agricultural town specializing in the
production of sugar.
 It was virtually owned by the Dominican
friars.
BIRTH/BAPTISM OF THE YOUNG JOSE
Father : Francisco Mercado
Mother: Teodora Alonso
Birthdate : June 19, 1861 between 11 and 12
o’clock at night
Birthplace: Calamba, Laguna
Baptizer : Father Rufino Collantes
Godfather: Pedro Casañas
 RIZAL’S ANCESTRY
(Father’s Side)
DOMINGO LAMCO INES DELA ROSA

JUAN MERCADO CIRILA ALEJANDRINO

(14) FRANCISCO MERCADO

Father of Jose
a. Lamco was changed into Mercado, following the gubernatorial
decree of Narciso Claveria to use Spanish surname.
b. Rizal was added to their surname by a provincial governor.
c. Rizal means a field where wheat, cut while still green, sprouts
again. (Guerrero, The First Filipino, p. 19)
d. Juan Mercado became Mayor of Biñang thrice. From Biñang he
moved to Calamba to cultivate lands leased by the Dominicans,
to such effect he bacame one of the town’s wealthiest men.
 RIZAL’S ANCESTRY
(Mother’s Side)
MANUEL DE QUINTOS REGINA URSUA

LORENZO ALBERTO
BRIGIDA
ALONSO

(5) TEODORA ALONSO

Mother of Jose

a. Lorenzo Alberto Alonso became deputy for the

Philippines in the Cortes
b. Lorenzo Alberto Alonso and his father Don Cipriano
became mayors of Biñang
 Rizal Family
(14) FRANCISCO MERCADO (5) TEODORA ALONSO
Father of Jose Mother of Jose

SATURNINA (1850)
PACIANO (1851)
NARCISA (1852)
OLIMPIA (1855)
LUCIA (1857)
MARIA (1859)
JOSE (1861)
CONCEPCION (1862)
JOSEFA (1865)
TRINIDAD (1868)
SOLEDAD (1870)
RIZAL’S IMMEDIATE FAMILY
 Jose belonged to a middle class family, the
principalia or ruling elite.

Proof of Rizal’s Wealth:

a. the family’s predilection (liking) for studies
b. its stone house
c. ownership of carriage and horses
d. presence of personal servants
e. private tutors
f. ability to send children in Manila for education
Don Franciso Mercado
 An educated man, took courses in Latin and Philosophy at Colegio
de San Jose in Manila
 A model father (honesty, frugality, industry)
 From him, Rizal inherited dignity, self-respect, serenity, poise and
seriousness.

Doña Teodora Alonso

 An educated woman, completed her education at the Colegio de
Santa Rosa, a prestigious college for girls in Manila
 A disciplinarian, a woman of more than an average education, a
woman of culture and religion, a sacrificing and industrious
housewife
 From her, Rizal inherited a practical temperament, stoicism, self-
sacrifice, temperament of a dreamer, and fondness for poetry
Childhood Days and Memories
 He treasured the care demonstrated by his parents
due to his poor health.
 He could not forget the family daily prayer.
 His imagination was aroused by the legends and fairy
tales told by his personal servant.
 At the age of 3, he learned how to pray and read the
bible.
 At the age of 4, his sister Concepcion (Concha) died.
This is Rizal’s first sorrow.
 The Story of the Moth and the Flame

From this Story, Rizal learned that one has

to sacrifice and to suffer the consequence of
one’s action for the attainment of a goal.
Early Demonstration of Inborn Talents

 At 3, he was able to master the alphabet.

 He showed also talents in sketching, painting, sculpture,
and literature.
 At 8, he was able to write his first poem entitled Sa Aking
Kababata or To My Fellow Children.

Whoever knows not to love his native tongue

Is Worse than any beast or smelling fish. (3rd par.)

 The poem is a call of Rizal for his fellow children to love

their native language.
The First Taste of Injustice
First: In 1871, Rizal’s mother was unjustfully arrested due to the
false allegation of the attempted murder of his uncle (Jose
Alberto’s wife). She was jailed for 2 ½ yrs and made to walk 50
km from Calamba to Sta. Cruz, Laguna. Due to Soledad’s
charming dance, Gov. Gen. Izquierdo freed Rizal’s mother.

Second: the martyrdom of the Gomburza as narrated by his

brother Paciano, who is a student of Fr. Burgos

El Filibusterismo: To the memory of the priests, Don Mariano

Gomes, Don Jose Burgos and Don Jacinto Zamora. Executed in
Bagumbayan Field on Feb. 17, 1872
J. Rizal
Preparations for Formal Schooling

 Rizal’s first teacher was his mother who

taught him how to read.

First private tutor: Maestro Celestino

Second: Maestro Lucas Padua
Third: Maestro Leon Monroy (honed Rizal’s
skills in reading, writing, and Latin)