State University of Northern Negros
Name: Arhell V. Arib BSCRIM-1E Date: August 25, 2024
Life of Jose Rizals
José Rizal also known as: José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (born June 19, 1861,
Calamba, Philippines—died December 30, 1896, Manila) was a patriot, physician, and man of
letters who was an inspiration to the Philippine nationalist movement.
The son of a prosperous landowner, he was the seventh of the eleven children of Francisco
Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso Realonda. His siblings are:
Saturina, Paciano, Narcisa, Olympia, Lucia, Maria, Jose, Concepcion, Josefa, Trinidad and
Soledad Rizal.
Rizal was educated in Manila from and at the University of Madrid.
Education Timeline:
Attended School Binan Ateneo Municipal from 1869 to 1871 and from 1872 to 1877,
starting at the age of 9 and completing at 16.
Studied at Santa Isabel College from 1873 to 1874.
Enrolled at University of Santo Tomas from 1877 to 1878, at the age of 17.
Pursued higher education from 1878 to 1882, at the age of 21.
Moved to Paris in 1882, at the age of 21, and attended the University of Eye Hospital
from 1882 to 1884, at the age of 23.
Studied at University of Leipzig in 1886, at the age of 25.
Attended University of Paris in 1887, at the age of 26.
Also studied at Universidad Central de Madrid and University of Heidelberg.
Course and Specializations
Took courses in Spanish, Private Lessons, Philosophy and Letters, and Medicine.
Completed Specialization in the Practice of Eye (Ophthalmology) and attended lectures
on History and Psychology.
Pursued a specialization in Eye Specialization (Ophthalmology) at the University of Eye
Hospital in Paris.
He was a brilliant medical student, his love for medicine awakens because of the condition of his
mother Teodora he wants to cure his mother who was going blind due to cataract. While in
Europe, he studied the science of eyes under the famous French ophthalmologist, Louis de
Wecker. He also worked as an assistant to Otto Becker, a professor of ophthalmology at the
University of Heidelberg in Germany.
He soon committed himself to the reform of Spanish rule in his home country, though he never
advocated Philippine independence. Most of his writing was done in Europe, where he resided
between 1882 and 1892.
In 1887 Rizal published his first novel, Noli me tangere (The Social Cancer), a passionate
exposure of the evils of Spanish rule in the Philippines. A sequel, El filibusterismo (1891; The
Reign of Greed), established his reputation as the leading spokesman of the Philippine reform
movement. He published an annotated edition (1890; reprinted 1958) of Antonio
Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, hoping to show that the native people of the Philippines
had a long history before the coming of the Spaniards. He became the leader of the Propaganda
Movement, contributing numerous articles to its newspaper, La Solidaridad, published
in Barcelona. Rizal’s political program included integration of the Philippines as a province of
Spain, representation in the Cortes (the Spanish parliament), the replacement of Spanish friars by
Filipino priests, freedom of assembly and expression, and equality of Filipinos and Spaniards
before the law.
monument to José Rizal
Monument (centre) to José Rizal in Rizal Park, Manila.
How José Rizal became the face of the Philippine independence movement.
Rizal returned to the Philippines in 1892. He founded a nonviolent-reform society, the Liga
Filipina, in Manila, and was deported to Dapitan in northwest Mindanao. He remained in exile
for the next four years. In 1896 the Katipunan, a Filipino nationalist secret society, revolted
against Spain. Although he had no connections with that organization and he had had no part in
the insurrection, Rizal was arrested and tried for sedition by the military. Found guilty, he was
publicly executed by a firing squad in Bagumbayan or known today as the famous Luneta park in
Manila. His martyrdom convinced Filipinos that there was no alternative to independence from
Spain. On the eve of his execution, while confined in Fort Santiago, Rizal wrote “Último adiós”
(“Last Farewell”), a masterpiece of 19th-century Spanish verse.
And as of today, Dr. Jose Rizal belongs to the national heroes of the Philippine history, his
influence through literature, the books he had written was the wake-up call for the Filipinos back
then when the Spanish empire was colonizing the Philippines. Although, by the time he died
independence was not yet proclaimed but many of our nation heroes as born thereafter and
continue to fight for the Philippine independence just like Andres Bonifacio.
There were at least nine women linked with Rizal: namely Segunda Katigbak, Leonor
Valenzuela, Leonor Rivera, Consuelo Ortiga, O-Sei San, Gertrude Beckette, Nelly Boustead,
Suzanne Jacoby and Josephine Bracken.
References:National Library Board, Britannica, DOST, UP Diliman Board
