Rizal's Family,

Childhood, and
Early Education
What comes to your
mind when you hear
term “Batang Rizal”?
 It is likely that you’re
thinking that Rizal was
already a prolific writer
as a child.
“Sa Aking Mga Kabata”

Is a masterpiece that
express the love of one’s
native language and the
importance of freedom
From Pepe to
pepe
Jose Protacio Rizal
Mercado y Alonzo
Realonda
He was born on June 19,
1861, in lakeshore town
Calamba, Laguna,
Philippines
The birth occurred between
eleven and twelve o’clock at
night, just a few days before
the full moon.
The birth process was
not easy, as Rizal’s
mother struggle due to
the size of his head.
Fortunately, both the baby and his
mother survived the difficult birth.
 Three days later,
Jose Protacio, was
baptized in catholic
Church by the
parish priest.
Father Rufino
Collantes.
 The child was
christened Jose
Protacio in honor
of two saints

His mother was a

devout follower of
Saint of San Jose
 While the name
“Protacio” was
inspired by Saint
Gervacio Protacio,
Whose feast is
celebrated every June
19 .
th
During the baptism
ceremony, Father
Collantes noticed
that Jose’s head
was unusually large
for the baby.
You might notice that Rizal’s name
Jose Protacio Rizal
Mercado y Alonzo
Realonda
is unusually long.
 The reason behind this is that it’s a
combination several surnames from his
family’s history.
Means “Market” Indicates the conjunction “and”

Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda

In honor of two
saints Old family name
Means “ green
field” Claveria Decree
Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo
Realonda

The first two given name – Jose Protacio- were

taken from two different saints.
Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo
Realonda

The surname Mercado comes from Rizal’s

Chinese ancestor. Domingo lam-co
In order to avoid anti-Chinese sentiment from the Spanish
authorities. Lam-co changed his family’s surname to Mercado
(“market”)
Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo
Realonda

The surname Rizal is the surname adapted by the

Mercados during the 1940’s because of the
Calveria Decree

During the 1840’s. Governor-General Narciso Claveria mandated that

Filipinos adopt surnames to facilitate census work and tax collection.
 Calveria Decree
Each province was given a list from which each
family could choose a new surname.
RIZAL
All of which came from this book: Catalogo
alfabetico de apellidos or Alphabetical Catalogue
of Surnames in English.
 Jose Protacio Rizal
Mercado y
Alonzo Realonda

The family’s original choice was Ricial, which

means “the green of young growth” or “green
fields”, reflecting their livelihood.
Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y
Alonzo Realonda

The new surname (Rizal) caused confusion in

the commercial affairs of the family.
Don Francisco thus settled on the combination
name ‘Rizal Mercado’ as a compromise.
Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y
Alonzo Realonda

The surname Realonda was the adapted

surname of Alonsos of Biñan due to the
Calveria Decree
 The reason behind this is that it’s a
combination several surnames from his
family’s history.
Means “Market” Indicates the conjunction “and”

Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda

In honor of two
saints Old family name
Means “ green
field” Claveria Decree
If you find Rizal’s full name confusing, we can
call him on his other nickname:

Jose Protacio Rizal

Mercado y Alonzo
Realonda

“Pepe”
 According to the book in Excelsis. Writer Felice
Prudente Santa Maria explains that Rizal got the
nickname “Pepe” because the letter ‘P.P’ were
always used after the name of Saint Joseph.

In latin, “P.P.” stands for ‘pater putativus” which

means “putative father”
In Spanish the letter “p” is pronounce as “peh”
which led people to start calling Saint Joseph
“Pepe” instead of Jose.
WELCOME TO THE
FAMILY MERCADO
 Jose Rizal was the seventh child of the
Mercado family , who were relatively well-
off and lived on a tenant owned by a
Dominican in Calamba, Laguna.
Saturnina Rizal Hidalgo (1850-
1913)
Nickname: Neneng

Born as Saturnina Rizal Mercado y

Alonso Realonda) or simply Saturnina
Hidalgo was the eldest sister
of Philippine national hero José
Rizal. She was married to Manuel T.
Hidalgo, anative and one of the richest
persons in Tanauan, Batangas. She was
known as Neneng. She died in 1913
Paciano Rizal (1851-1930)
Also known as: “Lolo Ciano”

Only brother of Jose Rizal and the

second child. Studied at San Jose
College in Manila; became a farmer
and later a general of the Philippine
Revolution. He lived a quiet life as
agentleman farmer, and died at the
age of 79 of tuberculosis
Narcisa Rizal (1852-1939)
Pet Name: “Sisa”
a teacher and a musician by profession,
was the third child of Francisco
Mercadoand Teodora Alonzo. She
married Antonio Lopezwho was a school
teacher in Morong, Rizal. They had nine
children Emilio, Angélica, Isabel,
Consuelo, Leoncio, Francisco, Arsenio,
Antonio and Fidela.
Olympia Rizal (1855-1887)
Pet Name: “Ypia”
was the fourth child of Francisco
Mercadoand Teodora Alonso. She
married Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph
operator from Manila. Died of
childbirth in 1887.
Lucia Rizal (1857-1919)
Lucia was married to Mariano
Herbosa, nephew of
Fr. Casañas, a witness of Jose
Rizal's baptism. Together, they had
eight children: Paz, Delfina;
Concepcion; Virginia;José; Teodosio;
Patrocinio, and Estanislao. She was
widowed young but did not remarry.
She died on 25 December 1919 at the
age of 62
 Maria Rizal (1859-
1945)
Pet Name: “Biang”

Maria was the sixth child

and married Daniel
Faustino Cruz of
Biñan, Laguna.
Jose Rizal (1861-1896)
Nickname: “Pepe”
José Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (June
19, 1861 –
December 30, 1896), was a
Filipino nationalist, writer
and revolutionary. He is widely considered
the greatest national heroof
the Philippines. He was the author of
Noli Me Tángere, El Filibusterismo and a
number of poems and essays. He was
executed on December 30, 1896
Concepcion Rizal (1862-1865)
Pet Name: “ Concha”
was the eight child of
Francisco Mercadoand Teodora Alonzo, who died at
the age of three. Concepcion, the eighth amongthe
Rizal children, died at the age of three due to an
illness. As an older brother, Jose, who was four at
that time (in 1865), grieved so bitterly. He recalled
having cried so hard for the first time due to love and
sorrow for their loss. According to him, “Till then I
had shed tears only for my own faults which my loving,
prudent mother well knew how to correct.”
Josefa Rizal (1865-1945) and
Trinidad Rizal (1868-1951)
Josefa and Trinidad were together living and both d
ied as spinsters. Josefa was medically ill of epilepsy but
the two became members of the Katipunan. Rizal’s
elegy, “Mi Ultimo Adios” was in the safekeeping of
Trinidad. Josefa Rizal or
Panggoy had epilepsy, a common chronic neurological
disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are
transient signs and/orsymptoms of abnormal, excessive
or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Due
to lack of medical resources to cure her illness during
that time, she became a spinster.Josefa Rizal died in at
the age of 80 years old.
Soledad Rizal
(1870-1929)
The youngest child, Soledad was
married to Pantaleon
Quintero.She was a teacher and
was considered as the best
educated among the sisters of
Rizal
 Francisco
Mercado (1818-
1898)
Father of Jose Rizal who was the youngest
of 13 offsprings of Juan and Cirila Mercado.
Born in Biñan, Laguna on April 18, 1818;
studied in San Jose College, Manila; and
died in Manila
 His father, Juan Mercado
was Binan’s
gobernadorcillo in 1808,
1813, and 1832.
His paternal grandfather. Francisco
Mercado. Also held the position in 1783,
and incidentally owned the largest herd
of carabaos in all of Binan

It is clearly that he might have

Francisco lost his father early, inherited some of this when
and when both this parents his parents died.
died. He moved to Calamba to
work in hacienda owned by the But because of his hard work,
Dominican. he made their money grow
even more by engaging in
farming and trading
In calamba, Francisco was
well-respected and known
as “Don Francisco” or “Don
Kiko”

He was elected by the citizens

of Calamba to be their “cabeza
de barangay”, or head of the
town.
 Teodora Alonzo Realonda y
Quintos was born on
November 8, 1826, in Manila.

Even before marrying Don Kiko,

Dona Teodora was already living a
comfortable life.
 Principalia
The ruling and educated
upper class in the town during
the Spanish occupation.
CHILDHOOD AND
EARLY
EDUCATION
Uncle Jose alberto, an
accomplished artist
nurture’s beauty and
taught him various art
forms such as painting,
sketching, and sculpture
 Uncle Gregorio, a learned scholar,
instilled in Rizal a love for education,
emphasizing its importance and the value
of hard work.

Gregorio encourage Rizal think critically,

observe his surroundings attentively, and
deepen his curiosity and knowledge.

Under his guidance, Rizal developed

a stronger love for reading
Uncle Manuel, concerned about
Rizal’s physical well-being, taught him
various athletic skills, including
swimming, Fencing, wrestling, and
other martials arts.

Manuel’s guidance helped Rizal to

developed proficiency in these areas,
despite his previous weakness and
undersized frame.
 As Rizal grew older, his parents
acquired private tutors to prepare him
for his formal education
One of his tutors was Leon Monroy, a former
classmate of Rizal’s father, who lived with the
Rizal family to teach the boy Spanish and
Latin
Sadly, Monroy
passed away
five months
later.
Following Monroy’s death, Rizal’s father sent him to study
Spanish and Latin in Biñan.
Rizal and his brother lived with their aunt
during this time, and Paciano acted as a
father figure during his school days in Biñan
 His teacher was Maestro
Justiniano Aquino Cruz,
who Rizal described as a tall,
thin man with a long neck
and sharp nose. He knew
Latin and Spanish grammar
by heart.
 On his first day, Rizal had a hard
time, When he entered the
classroom, his teacher asked him.
Teacher: Do you speak Spanish?
Rizal: A little sir
Teacher: Do you speak Latin?
Rizal: A little sir
Because of these answer, he was mocked .
The teacher’s son, Pedro, who was the worst boy in the
class, made fun of him, and they started to fight.
Pedro had the advantage in height, but since Rizal had an
uncle who taught him martials arts, he defeated him,
twisting him back.
 In the following days, Jose was said to have
had other fights with Binan boys. Other
physical bullying, he also experienced
verbal bullying from Biñan boys.

 For his scuffles, he nonetheless received

many whippings and blows on the open
palm from his disciplinarian teacher.
 His teacher taught, literally,
with a heavy hand.
Rizal;s studies in
Binan had a great
influence on his vies
on education. He
firmly believed that
education is not just a
mere obligation but
rather an invaluable
investment that leads
us towards a brighter
future.
EXPOSURE TO
INJUSTICE