Chapter 1 Rizal
Chapter 1 Rizal
Chapter 1 Rizal
HERO
Chapter I
JOSE P. RIZAL
is a unique example of a many-
splendored genius who became
the greatest hero of a nation.
Endowed by God with versatile
gifts, he truly ranked with the world’s
geniuses.
He was a:
Physician (ophthalmic surgeon), poet,
dramatist, essayist, novelist, historian,
architect, painter, sculptor, educator, linguist,
musician, naturalist, ethnologist, surveyor,
engineer, farmer businessman, economist,
geographer, cartographer, bibliophile,
philologist, grammarian, folklorist, philosopher,
translator, inventor, magician, humorist, satirist,
polemicist, sportsman, traveler, and prophet.
Above and beyond all these, he
was a hero and political martyr who
consecrated his life for the
redemption of his oppressed
people.
No wonder, he is now acclaimed
as the national hero of the
Philippines.
THE BIRTH OF A HERO
Jose Rizal was born on the moonlight
night of Wednesday, June 19, 1861, in
the lakeshore town of Calamba,
Laguna Province, Philippines.
His mother almost died during the
delivery because of his big head.
As he recounted many years later in
his student memoirs:
“I was born in Calamba on 19 June,
1861, between eleven and midnight, a
few days before full moon. It was a
Wednesday and my coming out in this
vale of tears would have cost my
mother her life had she not vowed to
the virgin of Antipolo to take me to her
sanctuary by way of pilgrimage.”
THE BIRTH OF A HERO
He was baptized in the Catholic church of his town on
June 22, aged three days old, by the parish priest,
Father Rufino Collantes, who was a Batangueño.
Father Pedro Casanas – his godfather (ninong),
native of Calamba and close friend of the Rizal family.
His name “Jose” was chosen by his mother who was
a devoted of the Christian saint San Jose (St.
Joseph).
RIZAL’S PARENTS
Jose Rizal was the seventh of the eleven children of
Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso
Realonda.
FRANCISCO (1818 – 1898)
was born in Biñan, Laguna, on May 11,
1818. He studied Latin and Philosophy
at the College of San Jose in Manila.
In early manhood, following his parent’s
death, he moved to Calamba and
became a tenant-farmer of the
Dominican-owned hacienda.
FRANCISCO (1818 – 1898)
He was a hardy and independent-minded
man, who talked less and worked more,
and was strong in body and valiant in spirit.
He died in Manila on January 5, 1898, at
the age of 80. In his student memoirs, Rizal
affectionately call him “ a model of fathers”.
DOÑA TEODORA (1826 - 1911)
the hero’s mother, was born in Manila on November
8, 1826 and was educated at the College of Santa
Rosa, a well-known college for girls in the city.
Rizal lovingly said of her:
“My mother is a woman of more than ordinary culture;
she knows literature and speaks Spanish better than
I. She corrected my poems and gave me good advice
when I was studying rhetoric. She is a mathematician
and has read many books”.
DOÑA TEODORA (1826 - 1911)
Doña Teodora - died in Manila on August 16, 1911, at
the age of 85. Shortly before her death, the Philippine
government offered her a life pension.
She courteously rejected it saying,
“My family has never been patriotic for money. If the
government has plenty of funds and does not know what
to do with them, better reduce the taxes.”
Such remarks truly befitted her as a worthy mother of
a national hero.
THE RIZAL CHILDREN
God blessed the marriage of Francisco Mercado
Rizal and Teodora Alonso Realonda with eleven
children – two boys and nine girls.
THESE CHILDREN WERE AS FOLLOWS:
Saturnina (1850-1913)
Paciano (1851-1930)
Narcisa (1852-1939)
Olimpia (1855-2887)
Lucia (1857-1919)
Maria (1859-1945)
Jose (1861-1945)
Concepcion (1862-1865)
Josefa (1865-1945)
Trinidad (1868-1951)
Soledad (1870-1929)
THE RIZAL CHILDREN
Saturnina (1850-1913) -
oldest of the Rizal
children, nicknamed
Neneng; she married
Manuel T. Hidalgo of
Tanawan, Batangas.
THE RIZAL CHILDREN
2. Paciano (1851-1930) – older brother
and confidant of Jose Rizal; after his
younger brother’s execution, he joined
the Philippine Revolution and became a
combat general; after the Revolution, he
retired to his farm in Los Baños, where
he lived as a gentleman farmer and died
on April 13, 1930, an old bachelor aged
79. He had two children by his mistress
(Severina Decena) – a boy and a girl.
THE RIZAL CHILDREN
Narcisa (1852-1939) – her pet
name was Sisa and she married
Antonio Lopez (nephew of Father
Leoncio Lopez), a school teacher
of Morong.
THE RIZAL CHILDREN
Olimpia (1855-1887) – Ypia was
her pet name; she married
Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph
operator from Manila.
THE RIZAL CHILDREN
Lucia (1857-1919) – She married
Mariano Herbosa of Calamba,
who was a nephew of Father
Casanas. Herbosa died of
cholera in 1889 and was denied
Christian burial because he was
a brother-in-law of Dr. Rizal.
THE RIZAL CHILDREN
Maria (1859-1945) – Biang was
her nickname; she married
Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan,
Laguna.
THE RIZAL CHILDREN
Jose (1861-1896) – the greatest
Filipino hero and peerless genius; his
nickname was Pepe; during his exile
in Dapitan he lived with Josephine
Bracken, Irish girl from Hong Kong;
he had a son by her, but this baby-
boy died a few hours after birth; Rizal
named him “Francisco” after his
father and buried him in Dapitan.
THE RIZAL CHILDREN
Concepcion (1862-1865) – her pet
name was Concha; she died of
sickness at the age of 3; her death was
Rizal’s first sorrow in life.
THE RIZAL CHILDREN
Josefa (1865-1945) – her pet
name was Panggo; she died also
an old maid at the age of 80.
THE RIZAL CHILDREN
Trinidad (1868-1951) – Trining
was her pet name; she died also
an old maid in 1951 aged 83.
THE RIZAL CHILDREN
Soledad (1870-1929) – youngest
of the Rizal children; her pet
name was Choleng; she married
Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba.
RIZAL’S RELATION WITH HIS ONLY BROTHER PACIANO