Family of Jose Rizal

Jose P. Rizal
José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (Jose Rizal) was born on June 19, 1861 to
Francisco Rizal Mercado y Alejandro and Teodora Alonso Realonda y Quintos in the town of Calamba in
Laguna province. José's patrilineal lineage could be traced to Fujian in China through his father's ancestor
Lam-Co, a Hokkien Chinese merchant who immigrated to the Philippines in the late 17th century. In
1697, to escape the bitter anti-Chinese prejudice that existed in the Philippines, he converted to
Catholicism, changed his name to Domingo Mercado and married the daughter of Chinese friend
Augustin Chin-co. On his mother's side, Rizal's ancestry included Chinese, Japanese, and Tagalog.
His mother's lineage can be traced to the affluent Florentina family of Chinese mestizo families
originating in Baliuag, Bulacan. From an early age, José showed a precocious intellect. Upon enrolling at
the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, he dropped the last three names that made up his full name, on the
advice of his brother, Paciano and the Mercado family, thus rendering his name as "José Protasio
Rizal". José, as "Rizal", soon distinguished himself in poetry writing contests, impressing his professors
with his facility with Castilian and other foreign languages, and later, in writing essays that were critical
of the Spanish historical accounts of the pre-colonial Philippine societies.
Jose Rizal came from a 13-member family. Rizal was the seventh child of the eleven children.

Parents of Jose Rizal.

His parents, Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y Alejandro (1818–1898) and Teodora Alonso
Realonda de Quintoswere prosperous farmers who were granted lease of a hacienda and an accompanying
rice farm by the Dominicans.

Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y Alejandro (1818–1898)

On May 11, 1818, Francisco Mercado, father of the national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, was born in
Biñan, Laguna. He first attended a Latin school in his hometown, and later was sent to study Philosophy
and Latin at the College of San Jose in Manila. He got married to Teodora Alonzo on June 28, 1848 and
had eight children, including Jose Rizal.

As a young industrious and efficient farmer, Francisco was able to raise a family that was
financially comfortable. He was a tenant of a Dominican estate in Calamba, Laguna and through hard
work, he had increased his rented landholdings. He was respected by the townspeople that he became
cabeza de barangay of Calamba.

His family name was changed to "Rizal" after an order from Governor General Narciso Claveria
that all native Filipinos should have a distinctive family name.

After the execution of his son Jose in Bagumbayan on December 30, 1896, Francisco felt deeply
the injustice that was brought by the Spaniards and died shortly afterward, on January 5, 1898 at the
age of 79, in the house of his daughter Narcisa.

His father, Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado, was an independent-minded, taciturn but dynamic
gentleman from whom Jose inherited his ‘free soul.’ Don Francisco became ‘tiniente gobernadorcillo’
(lieutenant governor) in Calamba and was thus nicknamed ‘Tiniente Kiko’. Students’ comical conjecture
that the fictional character ‘Kikong Matsing’ of‘Batibot’ was named after Don Francisco is, of course,
unfounded.

Jose’s father was born on May 11, 1818 in Biñan, Laguna. When he was eight years old, he lost
his father. He was nonetheless educated as he took Latin and Philosophy at the College of San Jose in
Manila, where he met and fell in love with Teodora Alonso, a student in the College of Santa Rosa.
Married on June 28, 1848, they settled down in Calamba where they were granted lease of a rice farm in
the Dominican-owned haciendas.

Teodora Alonso Realonda de Quintos

On November 9, 1827, Teodora Morales Alonzo Realonda de Rizal y Quintos, the mother of
Philippine national hero Jose Rizal, was born in Meisik, Tondo, Manila. She was known for being a
disciplinarian as well as a dedicated, courteous and hard- working mother. As the young Rizal's first
teacher, she had a profound influence on his development and was his inspiration in taking up medicine.

Teodora was the second child of Lorenzo Alonso and Brijida de Quintos. In accordance to the
decree issued by Governor-General Narciso Claveria in 1849, their family adopted the surname
"Realonda de Rizal". Coming from an able family, Teodora had her formal education at the Colegio de
Santa Rosa in Manila. Just like her mother, she was well-educated and highly cultured.

She was 20 years old when she married Francisco Mercado of Biñan, Laguna in 1848. They
settled in Calamba, Laguan and to them were born eleven children namely, Saturnina, Paciano, Narcisa,
Olimpia, Lucia, Maria, Jose, Concepcion, Josefa, Trinidad, and Soledad.

The Rizal family was primarily engaged in agriculture. As the mother of a perceived enemy of the
Spanish authorities, Teodora was often persecuted. In 1872, she was imprisoned for two and a half years
on trumped-up charges of poisoning her brother's wife. In 1891, she was made to walk fifty kilometers
to Sta. Cruz, Laguna, for failing to use her hispanicized surname, Realonda de Rizal. She had insisted on
using Alonzo. Her family was ejected from their lands in Calamba due to a land conflict after which they
relocated to Manila.

Siblings of Jose Rizal

SATURINA RIZAL (1850-1913)
Eldest child of the Rizal-Alonzo marriage. Married Manuel Timoteo Hidalgo of Tanauan,
Batangas.

Saturnina Rizal, the eldest sister of Jose, was truly a caring ate. She diligently reported daily
events and happenings in Calamba and told stories in vivid detail about the Rizal family, when Jose was
overseas. During Rizal’s hardships abroad, Saturnina sent him a diamond ring to help him with his
finances. As the young Rizal’s first teacher, she had a profound influence on his development and was
his inspiration in taking up medicine.

PACIANO RIZAL (1851-1930)

As Nick Joaquin said, «Without Paciano to back him up, it’s doubtful that Rizal would have
gotten as far as he reached». Paciano Rizal helped their parents choose the young Jose’s tutors and later
acted as Jose’s guardian in school. With an uncle, Paciano helped Rizal go to Europe in 1882 and was the
one who told their parents about Jose’s departure. For five years, he sent his brother a monthly pension
of 50 pesos, later 35 pesos.

He also constantly updated his brother about what was going on with their family and in the
country through letters. Paciano studied Latin under Maestro Justiniano Cruz before attending the
Colegio de San Jose in Manila. Jose A. Paciano was prohibited from taking his final examinations because
of his known closeness with Burgos and for his outspokenness against friar abuses. In 1896, he was
arrested and tortured because he refused to sign documents that could incriminate his brother and
connect him to the revolution.

After Rizal was executed, Paciano became a general of the Revolutionary Army.

NARCISA RIZAL (1852-1939)

The third child. married Antonio Lopez at Morong, Rizal; a teacher and musician.

Narcisa Rizal or simply ‘Sisa’ was the third child in the family. Like Saturnina, Narcisa helped in
financing Rizal’s studies in Europe, even pawning her jewelry and peddling her clothes if needed. Narcisa
was perhaps the most hospitable among the siblings. When Don Francisco and Doña Teodora were
driven out of their house in Calamba, Narcisa took them in her house. In August 1896, while being kept
under arrest aboard the cruiser Castilla anhored off Cavite, Rizal thanked Narcisa, in a letter, for her
hospitality in letting Josephine stay in her home.

It was also Narcisa who painstakingly searched for the place where the authorities secretly
buried the dead Rizal.

OLYMPIA RIZAL (1855-1887)

The fourth child. Married Silvestre Ubaldo; died in 1887 from childbirth.

LUCIA RIZAL (1857-1919)

The fifth child. Married Matriano Herbosa.

MARIA RIZAL (1859-1945)

The sixth child. Married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan, Laguna.

JOSE RIZAL (1861-1896)

The second son and the seventh child. He was executed by the Spaniards on December 30,1896.

CONCEPCION RIZAL (1862-1865)

The eighth child. Died at the age of three.

JOSEFA RIZAL (1865-1945)

The ninth child. An epileptic, died a spinster.
TRINIDAD RIZAL (1868-1951)
The tenth child. Died a spinster and the last of the family to die.

SOLEDAD RIZAL (1870-1929)

The youngest child married Pantaleon Quintero.

Grandparents of Jose Rizal

As typical Filipino, Rizal was a product of the mixture of races. In his veins flowed the blood of
both East and West. Predominantly, he was a Malayan and was a magnificent specimen of Asian
manhood. Rizal's great-great grandfather on his father side was Domingo Lameo, a Chinese immigrant
from the Fukien city of Changchow, who arrived in Manila in about 1690. He became a Christian,
married a well-to-do Chinese Christian Girl of Manila named Ines de la Rosa, and assumed in 1731 the
surname Mercado, which was appropriate for him because he was a merchant. The Spanish term
mercado means "market" in English. Domingo Mercado and Ines de la Rosa had a son, Francisco
Mercado, who resided in Biñan, married a Chinese-Filipino mestiza, Cirila Bernacha, and was elected
gobernadorcillo of the town. One their sons, Juan Mercado, Rizal's grandfather, married Cirila
Alejandro, a Chinese-Filipino mestiza. Like his father, he was elected gobernadorcillo of Biñan. Capitan
Juan and Capitana Cirila had thirteen children, the youngest being Francisco Mercado, Rizal's Father.

It is said that Doña Teodora's family descended from Lakandula, the last native king Tondo. Her
great-grandfather, Rizal's maternal great-great-grandfather, Eugenio Ursua (of Japanese ancestry), who
married a Filipina named Benigna (surname unknown). Their daughter, Regina, married Manuel de
Quintos, Filipino-Chinese lawyer from Pangasinan. One of the daughters of Atty. Quintos and Regina was
Brigida, who married Lorenzo Alberto Alonso, a prominent Spanish-Filipino mestizo of Biñan. Their
children were Narcisa, Teodora (Rizal's mother), Gregorio, Manuel, and Jose.

Referrences:

https://christianpolongalviar.weebly.com/family-background.html

https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1125/today-in-philippine-history-may-11-1818-francisco-
mercado-was-born-in-bi-an-laguna

https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1335/today-in-philippine-history-november-9-1827-
teodora-alonso-mother-of-dr-jose-rizal-was-born-in-meisik-tondo-manila#google_vignette

https://sites.google.com/site/joserizalournationalhero/rizal-s-family

https://www.angelfire.com/punk/jrizal/ancestry.html