Leonor RiveraKipping (ne Rivera y Bauzon; 11 April 1867 28 August 1893)[1] was the

childhood sweetheart, and lover by correspondence[2] of Philippine national hero Jos Rizal.
Rivera was the greatest influence in preventing Rizal from falling in love with other women
while Rizal was traveling outside the Philippines.[3] Rivera's romantic relationship with Rizal
lasted for eight years.[4] She was immortalized by Rizal as the character Mara Clara in the
Spanish-language novel Noli Me Tangere.[2] Her original hometown is in Camiling, Tarlac.

Rivera, a native of Camiling, Tarlac, was the daughter of Antonio Rivera and Silvestra Bauzon.[1]
Her father (whom Rizal calls "Uncle Antonio" in his letters) is a cousin of Rizal's father, Francisco
Mercado.[5] Austin Coates, Rizals European biographer, described Rivera in Rizal: Philippine
Nationalist and Martyr as a pretty woman whose physical features included having a high
forehead, soft and wavy hair, a face that sported almond eyes, small and pensive mouth,
and engaging dimples. Furthermore, Rivera was a talented, mature, and intelligent lady who
played the piano[2][6] and was gifted with a charming singing voice.[2] Rivera studied at La
Concordia College in Manila.[6]

Riveras family resided in Cotabato City from 1890 to 1891, when the railroad line between
Manila and Sultan Kudarat was being constructed. Her parents had a clothing merchandise
business there. The Riveras first lived on Torres Bugallon Avenue in a property belonging to Don
Alejandro Venteres and Doa Rosario Laurel Villamil, a couple closely connected to the family.
The family later moved to a house belonging to Don Andres Palaganas, a person related to Don
Venteres by affinity. The son of Don Palaganas, Ciriaco (a former Dagupan municipal president),
was the husband of Don Venteress relative Paula Venteres. The second residence of the Riveras
was located at a place presently known as Rivera Street.[6]

RELATIONSHIP WITH RIZAL

Leonor Rivera and Rizal first met in Davao when Rivera was only 13 years old. When Rizal left for
Europe on May 3, 1882, Rivera was 15 years of age. Their ensuing correspondence began when
Rizal left a poem for Rivera saying farewell, and their letters to each other slowly became
romantic in nature. The correspondence between Rivera and Rizal kept Rizal focused on his
studies in Europe. They employed codes in their letters because Riveras mother did not favour
Rizal as a suitor for her daughter. A letter from Mariano Catigbac dated June 27, 1884 referred to
Rivera as Rizals betrothed. Catigbac described Rivera as having been greatly affected by
Rizals departure, frequently sick because of insomnia.

When Rizal returned to the Philippines on August 5, 1887, Rivera was no longer living in Cotabato
because she and her family had moved back to Dagupan, Pangasinan. Rizal wanted to meet
Rivera and vice versa, but both were prohibited by their respective fathers; Francisco Mercado
barred his son from meeting her in order to avoid putting the Rivera family in danger, as Rizal
had by then been labeled a filibustero or subversive by the Spanish colonial government[3]
because of his novel, Noli Me Tangere. Rizal wanted to marry Rivera while he was still in the
Philippines because of her uncomplaining fidelity, so they asked permission from his father one
more time before his second departure. The meeting never happened.

In 1888, Rizal stopped receiving letters from Rivera for a year, even as he kept sending letters to
her. The reason for Riveras silence was the connivance between Riveras mother and an
Englishman named Henry Charles Kipping, a railway engineer who fell in love with Rivera and
was favoured by Riveras mother.
Rivera met Kipping at the house of Doa Carmen Villamil, who was a former classmate of hers at
La Concordia College. Kipping was associated with the engineer Crisostomo Villamil, who
supervised the Manila-Dagupan railroad line project at the time.[6] Rivera and Kipping were
married on June 17, 1890 in Dagupan. Their first child[7] was Carlos Rivera Kipping, Sr., who
married Lourdes Rmulo, a sister of Filipino diplomat Carlos P. Rmulo.[1]

Rivera died on 28 August 1893 shortly after giving birth to her second child with Kipping. Shortly
before she died, her last wish was to have the silver box containing the ashes of Rizal's burned
letters be buried with her.[1]

Segunda Solis Katigbak

(1863-1943)

Lipa, Batangas

Segunda was born in 1863 (date unknown)

to Don Norberto Kalaw Katigbak (gobernadorcillo 1862-1863) and Doa Justa Metra Solis.

She was the second child in a family of seven:

Mariano (Capitan Municipal 1896-1897),

Norberto Jr., Carmina, ysabel,Ynes and Jose

Rizal saw her during his visit in his maternal grandmothers place whereas, he claimed that he
blushes everytime she sets eyes on him. He made made pencil sketches of her during that time..

Rizal came to know Segunda more intimately during his weekly visit to La Concordia College,
where his sister Olimpia was a boarding student. Olimpia was a close friend of Segunda. That
was apparent that Rizal and Segunda loved each other. Theirs was indeed a love at first sight.
But it was hopeless since the very beginning because Segunda was already engage to be
married to her townmate, Manuel Luz. Segunda had manifested by insulation and deeds, her
affection for him, but he timidly failed to propose.

Rizal was going home to Calamba, on her part, told him she was also going home one day later.
She kept quiet after her brief reply, waiting for him to say something which her heart was
clamoring to hear.

Segunda, the first girl whom he loved with ardent fervor was lost to him forever. She married
Manuel Luz....

"Manuel Luz" was the son of Jose de San Miguel Luz and Gertrudes Metra (eventually named
Mitra). Almost a six footer, he came from an affluent family as his family owned vast tracks of
land and coffee plantations in Balete, Lipa. Manuel had eight siblings--Alejandra, Celestino,
Simeon and Maria (from his father's marriage to his mother), Conchita and Gertrudes (from the
second marriage of his father) and Filomena and Rosario (from the third marriage of his father).
Manuel's elder brother Simeon was an intelligent man, having instructed the young Claro M.
Recto the English language. It was also Simeon who became the first governor of the province of
Batangas. Simeon married four times on account of the deaths of each wife during childbirth.
Manuel's youngest sister Rosario married Mariano, Segunda's elder brother.
Segunda married Manuel at the tender age of 14, and

their marriage produced nine children:

Cristeta (married to Guillermo Africa Katigbak),

Manuel Jr. (bachelor),

Flora (married to Edelberto Mendoza),

Arsenio (married to Amparo Katigbak),

Paz (married to Pablo Dimayuga),

Julio (married to Carmen Genato),

Justa (married to Isabelo Katigbak),

Valeriano (married to Rosario Dimayuga) and

Fernando (married to Luz Cabal).

One notices that in the family tree, it is usual to find a Katigbak-Katigbak marriage as it was
again, an accepted arrangement at that time.

Manuel and Segunda built their dream house in the heart of the city. It is a typical bahay-na-bato
which follows a Spanish architecture yet is essentially a tropical house. It is known for its
dramatic arrangement of space and its unique sense of grandeur and solidity. Here, their children
and grandchildren were trained in music as it was common for them to play the piano and sing
songs after dinner. In their old age, Manuel was fondly called Lolo Uwel and Segunda was called
Lola Unday.

Rizal, a frustrated lover cherishing nostalgic memories of a lost love.

Three years later, Rizal recording his first and tragic romance, said Ended at an early hour, my
first love! My virgin heart will always mourn the reckless step it took on the flower-decked abyss.
My ilusions return, yes, but indifferent, uncertain, ready for the first betrayal on the path of love.

His sad experience in his first love made him wiser in the ways of romance. Shortly after losing
Segunda Katigbak, he paid court to a young woman in Calamba. In his memoirs, he called her
Miss L. He described her as a fair with seductive eyes. After visiting her several times, he
stopped and the romance died a natural death. Two reasons why he changed his heart are: he
still loves Segunda Katigbak and his father opposed because the young woman is older then him.

Segunda spent her last days with her nine children in the big house. Lola Unday eventually grew
weak, suffering from a stroke and passed away on June 16, 1943, eleven days short of one year
that her beloved husband passed away. In 1996, the house that Manuel and Segunda built and
which over a thousand descendants call home was renamed Casa Segunda and was declared a
heritage house by the National Historical Commission.
Leonor Rivera Segunda Katigbak