Jose Rizal Biography
Jose Rizal was a Filipino polymath whose martyrdom
helped spark the revolution of the Philippines from
Spanish occupation. Read about his life, works, and
legacy.
Fast Facts: José Rizal
 Known For: National hero of the
Philippines for his key role inspiring and
leading the Philippine Revolution against
colonial Spain.
 Born: June 19, 1861 at Calamba, Laguna.
 Parents: Francisco Rizal Mercado and
Teodora Alonzo y Quintos.
 Birth name: Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado
Y Alonso Realonda
 Died: December 30, 1896, Barcelona,
Spain. Bagumbayan [now Luneta], Manila,
Philippines (execution by firing squad)
 Education: Ateneo Municipal de Manila,
studied medicine at the University of Santo
Tomas and and medicine and philsophy at
the Universidad Central de Madrid (1884);
opthamology at the University of Paris and
the University of Heidelberg.
 Published Works: "Noli Me Tangere," "El
Filibusterismo."
 Spouse(s): Josephine Bracken (married
two hours before his death).
 Children: None.
 Nickname: Pepe
On June 19th 1861, the Mercado Family from the town
of Calamba in the province of Laguna in the Philippines,
happily greeted the birth of their newest member — a
baby boy born as the seventh child to proud parents
Francisco Rizal Mercado y Alejandro and Teodora
Alonso Realonda y Quintos. They named the bouncing
baby boy Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado.
Being the seventh of a brood of eleven, Jose Rizal
Mercado demonstrated an astounding intelligence and
aptitude for learning at a very young age when he
learned his letters from his mother and could read and
write at the age of five.
Early Life
José Rizal was born on June 19, 1861 at Calamba,
Laguna, the seventh child of Francisco Rizal Mercado
and Teodora Alonzo y Quintos. They named the boy
Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda. The
Mercado family were wealthy farmers who rented land
from the Dominican religious order. Descendants of a
Chinese immigrant named Domingo Lam-co, they
changed their name to Mercado ("market") under the
pressure of anti-Chinese feeling among the Spanish
colonizers.
From an early age, Jose Rizal Mercado showed a
precocious intellect. He learned the alphabet from his
mother at the age of three and could read and write at
age five.
Educational Foundations
The Mercado family enjoyed relative wealth as
landowners who rented the land of their hacienda to the
Dominican friars in Laguna. Hence, education was a
priority for the Mercado family and young Jose Protacio
was sent to learn from Justiniano Aquino Cruz, a tutor
from nearby Binan, Laguna. But the education of a small
town and a tutor did not sufficiently quench the young
man’s thirst for knowledge and soon, the family began to
make preparations for his admission to the Ateneo
Municipal de Manila, in the capital of the Philippines.
The school was run by the Jesuit Order and was one of
the most prominent and academic institutions in the
country which catered to the rich, the powerful and most
intelligent students that country had, certainly a place for
a young man like Jose Protasio Mercado.
Studying in Manila
Prior to his enrollment in this prominent learning
institution, his older brother Paciano Rizal Mercado,
insisted that Jose drop the surname “Mercado”, to
ensure that the younger Mercado would be
disassociated with the outspoken and borderline
subversive reputation of his older brother. As such, the
young man known as Jose Protasio Rizal enrolled at the
Ateneo Municipal de Manila.
Being the child of a family of wealthy landowners, Jose
Rizal decided to study for a degree in Land Surveying
and Assessment at the Ateneo de Municipal de Manila
where he graduated on March 14, 1877, with honors or
sobresaliente. He took and passed the licensure exam
for land surveying and assessment in 1878 but was not
given a license until 1881 when he turned 21.
In 1878, after his completion of his degree from Ateneo
Municipal de Manila, he pursued, his passion for the arts
as he enrolled at the Faculty of Arts and Letters for a
degree in Philosophy at the University of Santo Tomas.
Although he excelled at philosophy, the news of his
mother’s impending blindness convinced him to study
Medicine, and in 1878 he enrolled in the Faculty of
Medical Sciences at University of Santo Tomas to
specialize in ophthalmology. Citing discrimination
against Filipino students by the Dominican professors in
Medicine, Rizal left the medical program in 1882.
Believing that education in the country was limited, he
boarded a ship to Spain with the support of his older
brother Paciano but without informing his parents. The
ten years he would spend on the European continent
would leave an indelible mark on his personality and
open his eyes to the world, develop his natural talents
and strengthen his devotion to his motherland.
José Rizal Mercado attended the Ateneo Municipal de
Manila, graduating at the age of 16 with highest honors.
He took a post-graduate course there in land surveying.
Rizal Mercado completed his surveyor's training in 1877,
and passed the licensing exam in May 1878, but could
not receive a license to practice because he was only 17
years old. (He was granted a license in 1881 when he
reached the age of majority.)
In 1878, the young man also enrolled in the University of
Santo Tomas as a medical student. He later quit the
school, alleging discrimination against Filipino students
by the Dominican professors.
Academics in Europe
In May of 1882, José Rizal got on a ship to Spain without
informing his parents of his intentions. He enrolled at the
Universidad Central de Madrid. In June of 1884, he
received his medical degree at the age of 23; the
following year, he also graduated from the Philosophy
and Letters department.
Inspired by his mother's advancing blindness, Rizal next
went to the University of Paris and then the University of
Heidelberg to complete further study in the field of
ophthalmology. At Heidelberg, he studied under the
famed professor Otto Becker. Rizal finished his second
doctorate at Heidelberg in 1887.
In Spain, he continued the studies that were stalled in
the Philippines and enrolled at the Universidad Central
de Madrid where he graduated in 1884 with a degree in
Medicine, and a year later with a degree in Philosophy
and letters from the same institution. Even after the
completion of these two degrees, he still was not
satisfied and traveled to France and studied at the
University of Paris.
In his pursuit to further increase his knowledge in his
chosen field of specialization — ophthalmology — he
studied at the University of Heidelberg under the
distinguished eye specialist, Professor Otto Becker.
Jose Rizal lived in Europe for 10 years. During that time,
he picked up a number of languages; in fact, he could
converse in more than 10 different tongues. While in
Europe, the young Filipino impressed everyone who met
him with his charm, his intelligence, and his mastery of
an incredible range of different fields of study. Rizal
excelled at martial arts, fencing, sculpture, painting,
teaching, anthropology, and journalism, among other
things.
During his European sojourn, he also began to write
novels. Rizal finished his first book, Noli Me Tangere,
while living in Wilhemsfeld with the Reverend Karl
Ullmer.
Recognition in Europe
Born a few centuries too late, Rizal could have been an
ideal Renaissance Man, he was a polymath who
excelled at anything he put his considerable mind and
talents to. The study of land assessment, medicine, and
literature are just a few of his known accomplishments
but he also excellent in arts such as sculpting, painting,
architecture; physical activities such as martial arts,
fencing, pistol shooting were also where he
demonstrated his prowess; he was well read could
discuss agriculture, economics, sociology, anthropology
and history at will.
117 years after Rizal’s death, the government where his
family hailed in Calamba, Laguna recognized Rizal’s
ability in various sports during his lifetime.Apart from
these, he was also multilingual and was known to have
been able to converse in over 10 languages including
Filipino, Spanish, English, French, German, and Dutch,
among others.
Rizal was also a member of the Freemasons. It is
therefore no surprise that wherever he went, people
were drawn to his charm, wit, intelligence and
personality. He made friends and lovers wherever he
went and left an impression and reputation that would
outlive him.
Foundations for Reform
Even as a youth, Jose Rizal had been exposed to the
difficulties of being under the Spanish colonial
government, which had instilled in him the need for
change in the system of how the country was being run.
Jose Rizal spent most of his time with his older brother
Paciano, a man who had been linked to Filipino priests,
Gomez, Burgos and Zamora, who sought reform within
the catholic church by advocating equal rights for Filipino
and Spanish priests in the Philippines. The three priests
were later accused of being subversive and were
executed by the Spanish colonial government.
Even closer to home, Rizal saw the treatment accorded
to his beloved mother by the Spanish authorities who
accused her of attempting to poison her cousin and sent
her to jail in Santa Cruz, Laguna. Teodora Mercado was
made to walk sixteen kilometers from their home to the
prison and was incarcerated for two and a half years
until a successful appeal at the highest court of the
Spanish government cleared her of the charges.
Both in his novels and in newspaper editorials, Jose
Rizal called for a number of reforms of the Spanish
colonial system in the Philippines. He advocated
freedom of speech and assembly, equal rights before
the law for Filipinos, and Filipino priests in place of the
often-corrupt Spanish churchmen. In addition, Rizal
called for the Philippines to become a province of Spain,
with representation in the Spanish legislature (the Cortes
Generales). Rizal never called for independence for the
Philippines. Nonetheless, the colonial government
considered him a dangerous radical and declared him an
enemy of the state.
Novels
During his stay in first stay in Europe, Rizal wrote his
novel, Noli Me Tangere.The book was written in Spanish
and first published in Berlin, Germany in 1887. The Noli,
as it is more commonly known, tells the story of a young
Filipino man who travels to Europe to study and returns
home with new eyes to the injustices and corruption in
his native land.
Rizal used elaborate characters to symbolize the
different personalities and characteristics of both the
oppressors and the oppressed, paying notable attention
to Filipinos who had adopted the customs of their
colonizers, forgetting their own nationality; the Spanish
friars who were portrayed as lustful and greedy men in
robes who sought only to satisfy their own needs, and
the poor and ignorant members of society who knew no
other life but that of one of abject poverty and cruelty
under the yoke of the church and state. Rizal’s first novel
was a scalding criticism of the Spanish colonial system
in the country and Philippine society in general, was met
with harsh reactions from the elite, the church and the
government.
Upon his return to the country, he was summoned by the
Governor General of the Philippine Islands to explain
himself in light of accusations that he was a subversive
and an inciter of rebellion. Rizal faced the charges and
defended himself admirably, and although he was
exonerated, his name would remain on the watch list of
the colonial government. Similarly, his work also
produced a great uproar in the Catholic Church in the
country, so much so that later, he was excommunicated.
Despite the reaction to his first novel, Rizal wrote a
second novel, El Filibusterismo, and published it in 1891.
Where the protagonist of Noli Me Tangere, Ibarra, was a
pacifist and advocate of peaceful means of reforms to
enact the necessary change in the system, the lead
character in Fili, Simeon, was more militant and
preferred to incite an armed uprising to achieve the
same end. Hence the government could not help but
notice that instead of being merely a commentary on
Philippine society, the second novel could become the
catalyst which would encourage Filipinos to revolt
against the Spanish colonizers and overthrow the
colonial government.
Arrest, Exile, and Incarceration
Upon his return to the Philippines in 1892, he was
arrested by the Spanish government for being a
subversive and for his reported involvement in the
rebellion. He was then exiled to the island of the Dapitan
in the southernmost island group of the Philippines,
Mindanao. There he established a school that taught
English to young boys, he worked on agricultural
projects on abaca, a plant used for rope, and he
continued to practice medicine, eventually meeting one
of the most famous women in his life, Josephine
Bracken.
Although Jose Rizal had repeatedly said that he
advocated peaceful reforms in the Philippines, the
Spanish government were correct in assuming that his
novels would indeed stir up a hornet’s nest of unrest in
the islands. One of the leaders of the revolutionary group
called Katipunan, Andres Bonifacio, had read the Rizal’s
novels and had used these as a basis for the revolution.
So influential was Rizal that even without his permission
they named him as a member and Katipuneros shouted
his name as part of the their battlecry.
With no wish to be further implicated in the revolution,
Rizal asked and was granted permission by then
governor General Ramon Blanco to travel to Cuba,
another Spanish Colony at the time, to support in the
medical efforts needed to suppress an outbreak of
yellow fever. On the way to Cuba, Rizal was arrested
and incarcerated in Barcelona due to the political
manoeuvrings of the friars which saw Blanco removed
from office and replaced by Camilo de Polavieja.
Exile and Courtship
In 1892, Rizal returned to the Philippines. He was almost
immediately accused of being involved in the brewing
rebellion and was exiled to Dapitan City, on the island of
Mindanao. Rizal would stay there for four years,
teaching school and encouraging agricultural reforms.
During that same period, the people of the Philippines
grew more eager to revolt against the Spanish colonial
presence. Inspired in part by Rizal's organization, La
Liga, rebel leaders like Andres Bonifacio began to press
for military action against the Spanish regime.
In Dapitan, Rizal met and fell in love with Josephine
Bracken, who brought her stepfather to him for a
cataract operation. The couple applied for a marriage
license but were denied by the Church (which had
excommunicated Rizal).
Execution and Death
Rizal was then brought back to the Philippines to face
charges of rebellion due to his reported association with
the revolutionary movement. The court found him guilty
and sentenced him to death. Jose Rizal was executed
by a firing squad on December 30 1896, at 7:00am, in
Bagumbayan (now called Rizal Park) and his remains
were buried in an unmarked grave in the nearby Paco
Cemetery.
The Philippine Revolution broke out in 1896. Rizal
denounced the violence and received permission to
travel to Cuba in order to tend victims of yellow fever in
exchange for his freedom. Bonifacio and two associates
sneaked aboard the ship to Cuba before it left the
Philippines, trying to convince Rizal to escape with them,
but Rizal refused.
He was arrested by the Spanish on the way, taken to
Barcelona, and then extradited to Manila for trial. José
Rizal was tried by court-martial, charged with
conspiracy, sedition, and rebellion. Despite a lack of any
evidence of his complicity in the Revolution, Rizal was
convicted on all counts and given the death sentence.
He was allowed to marry Josephine two hours before his
execution by firing squad on December 30, 1896. Jose
Rizal was just 35 years old.
Through the years, Rizal’s works and ideals have been
cited by many reformists, such as Jawaharlal Nehru,
Sun Yat Sen and even Ghandi as the means for peace
reforms. As the national hero of the Philippines, his
works, are required reading for all students and streets,
buildings, and parks have been named after him and the
30th of December, his death anniversary, was declared
a national holiday.
Legacy
José Rizal is remembered today throughout the
Philippines for his brilliance, his courage, his peaceful
resistance to tyranny, and his compassion. Filipino
schoolchildren study his final literary work, a poem called
Mi Ultimo Adios ("My Last Goodbye"), as well as his two
famous novels.
Spurred on by Rizal's martyrdom, the Philippine
Revolution continued until 1898. With assistance from
the United States, the Philippine archipelago was able to
defeat the Spanish army. The Philippines declared its
independence from Spain on June 12, 1898. It was the
first democratic republic in Asia.
What made Jose Rizal worthy of becoming the
Philippines’ national hero was not merely his
intelligence, personality, literary acumen, or his pacifist
ideals. Rather, it was his patriotism, optimism, undying
love for his country and his belief in his countrymen
which set him apart. He believed not merely in freedom
but in the potential of the Filipino people to surpass what
they were under the Spanish colonial government, and
all he wished was for them to be given the chance to tap
into that potential. And for that, he has earned his right
place as a symbol of what a Filipino can do in one short
lifetime.
Jose Rizal: A Biographical Sketch
BY TEOFILO H. MONTEMAYOR
JOSE RIZAL, the national hero of the Philippines and
pride of the Malayan race, was born on June 19, 1861,
in the town of Calamba, Laguna. He was the seventh
child in a family of 11 children (2 boys and 9 girls). Both
his parents were educated and belonged to
distinguished families.
His father, Francisco Mercado Rizal, an industrious
farmer whom Rizal called "a model of fathers," came
from Biñan, Laguna; while his mother, Teodora Alonzo y
Quintos, a highly cultured and accomplished woman
whom Rizal called "loving and prudent mother," was
born in Meisic, Sta. Cruz, Manila. At the age of 3, he
learned the alphabet from his mother; at 5, while
learning to read and write, he already showed
inclinations to be an artist. He astounded his family and
relatives by his pencil drawings and sketches and by his
moldings of clay. At the age 8, he wrote a Tagalog
poem, "Sa Aking Mga Kabata," the theme of which
revolves on the love of one’s language. In 1877, at the
age of 16, he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree with
an average of "excellent" from the Ateneo Municipal de
Manila. In the same year, he enrolled in Philosophy and
Letters at the University of Santo Tomas, while at the
same time took courses leading to the degree of
surveyor and expert assessor at the Ateneo. He finished
the latter course on March 21, 1877 and passed the
Surveyor’s examination on May 21, 1878; but because
of his age, 17, he was not granted license to practice the
profession until December 30, 1881. In 1878, he enrolled
in medicine at the University of Santo Tomas but had to
stop in his studies when he felt that the Filipino students
were being discriminated upon by their Dominican tutors.
On May 3, 1882, he sailed for Spain where he continued
his studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid. On
June 21, 1884, at the age of 23, he was conferred the
degree of Licentiate in Medicine and on June 19,1885, at
the age of 24, he finished his course in Philosophy and
Letters with a grade of "excellent."
Having traveled extensively in Europe, America and
Asia, he mastered 22 languages. These include Arabic,
Catalan, Chinese, English, French, German, Greek,
Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Malayan, Portuguese,
Russian, Sanskrit, Spanish, Tagalog, and other native
dialects. A versatile genius, he was an architect, artists,
businessman, cartoonist, educator, economist,
ethnologist, scientific farmer, historian, inventor,
journalist, linguist, musician, mythologist, nationalist,
naturalist, novelist, opthalmic surgeon, poet,
propagandist, psychologist, scientist, sculptor,
sociologist, and theologian.
He was an expert swordsman and a good shot. In the
hope of securing political and social reforms for his
country and at the same time educate his countrymen,
Rizal, the greatest apostle of Filipino nationalism,
published, while in Europe, several works with highly
nationalistic and revolutionary tendencies. In March
1887, his daring book, NOLI ME TANGERE, a satirical
novel exposing the arrogance and despotism of the
Spanish clergy, was published in Berlin; in 1890 he
reprinted in Paris, Morga’s SUCCESSOS DE LAS ISLAS
FILIPINAS with his annotations to prove that the
Filipinos had a civilization worthy to be proud of even
long before the Spaniards set foot on Philippine soil; on
September 18, 1891, EL FILIBUSTERISMO, his second
novel and a sequel to the NOLI and more revolutionary
and tragic than the latter, was printed in Ghent. Because
of his fearless exposures of the injustices committed by
the civil and clerical officials, Rizal provoked the
animosity of those in power. This led himself, his
relatives and countrymen into trouble with the Spanish
officials of the country. As a consequence, he and those
who had contacts with him, were shadowed; the
authorities were not only finding faults but even
fabricating charges to pin him down. Thus, he was
imprisoned in Fort Santiago from July 6, 1892 to July 15,
1892 on a charge that anti-friar pamphlets were found in
the luggage of his sister Lucia who arrive with him from
Hong Kong. While a political exile in Dapitan, he
engaged in agriculture, fishing and business; he
maintained and operated a hospital; he conducted
classes- taught his pupils the English and Spanish
languages, the arts.

The sciences, vocational courses including agriculture,

surveying, sculpturing, and painting, as well as the art of
self defense; he did some researches and collected
specimens; he entered into correspondence with
renowned men of letters and sciences abroad; and with
the help of his pupils, he constructed water dam and a
relief map of Mindanao - both considered remarkable
engineering feats. His sincerity and friendliness won for
him the trust and confidence of even those assigned to
guard him; his good manners and warm personality were
found irresistible by women of all races with whom he
had personal contacts; his intelligence and humility
gained for him the respect and admiration of prominent
men of other nations; while his undaunted courage and
determination to uplift the welfare of his people were
feared by his enemies.

When the Philippine Revolution started on August 26,

1896, his enemies lost no time in pressing him down.
They were able to enlist witnesses that linked him with
the revolt and these were never allowed to be confronted
by him. Thus, from November 3, 1986, to the date of his
execution, he was again committed to Fort Santiago. In
his prison cell, he wrote an untitled poem, now known as
"Ultimo Adios" which is considered a masterpiece and a
living document expressing not only the hero’s great love
of country but also that of all Filipinos. After a mock trial,
he was convicted of rebellion, sedition and of forming
illegal association. In the cold morning of December 30,
1896, Rizal, a man whose 35 years of life had been
packed with varied activities which proved that the
Filipino has capacity to equal if not excel even those who
treat him as a slave, was shot at Bagumbayan Field.