RA No.

1425 prescribes the teaching of the life, works and writings of Jose Rizal for all school, colleges and uniersities.
Jose Rizal! A "iographical #ketch
J$#% R&'A(, the national hero of the )hilippines and pride of the *ala+an race, was born on June 1,, 1-.1, in the town of /ala0ba, (aguna.
1e was the seenth child in a fa0il+ of 11 children 22 bo+s and , girls3. "oth his parents were educated and belonged to distinguished
fa0ilies.
1is father, 4rancisco *ercado Rizal, an industrious far0er who0 Rizal called 5a 0odel of fathers,5 ca0e fro0 "i6an, (aguna7 while his
0other, 8eodora Alonzo + 9uintos, a highl+ cultured and acco0plished wo0an who0 Rizal called 5loing and prudent 0other,5 was born in
*eisic, #ta. /ruz, *anila. At the age of :, he learned the alphabet fro0 his 0other7 at 5, while learning to read and write, he alread+ showed
inclinations to be an artist. 1e astounded his fa0il+ and relaties b+ his pencil drawings and sketches and b+ his 0oldings of cla+. At the age
-, he wrote a 8agalog poe0, 5#a Aking *ga ;abata,5 the the0e of which reoles on the loe of one<s language. &n 1-==, at the age of 1.,
he obtained his "achelor of Arts degree with an aerage of 5e>cellent5 fro0 the Ateneo *unicipal de *anila. &n the sa0e +ear, he enrolled in
)hilosoph+ and (etters at the ?niersit+ of #anto 8o0as, while at the sa0e ti0e took courses leading to the degree of sure+or and e>pert
assessor at the Ateneo. 1e finished the latter course on *arch 21, 1-== and passed the #ure+or<s e>a0ination on *a+ 21, 1-=-7 but
because of his age, 1=, he was not granted license to practice the profession until @ece0ber :A, 1--1. &n 1-=-, he enrolled in 0edicine at the
?niersit+ of #anto 8o0as but had to stop in his studies when he felt that the 4ilipino students were being discri0inated upon b+ their
@o0inican tutors. $n *a+ :, 1--2, he sailed for #pain where he continued his studies at the ?niersidad /entral de *adrid. $n June 21,
1--4, at the age of 2:, he was conferred the degree of (icentiate in *edicine and on June 1,,1--5, at the age of 24, he finished his course in
)hilosoph+ and (etters with a grade of 5e>cellent.5
1aing traeled e>tensiel+ in %urope, A0erica and Asia, he 0astered 22 languages. 8hese include Arabic, /atalan, /hinese, %nglish, 4rench,
Ber0an, Breek, 1ebrew, &talian, Japanese, (atin, *ala+an, )ortuguese, Russian, #anskrit, #panish, 8agalog, and other natie dialects. A
ersatile genius, he was an architect, artists, business0an, cartoonist, educator, econo0ist, ethnologist, scientific far0er, historian, inentor,
Cournalist, linguist, 0usician, 0+thologist, nationalist, naturalist, noelist, opthal0ic surgeon, poet, propagandist, ps+chologist, scientist,
sculptor, sociologist, and theologian.
&n *arch 1--=, his daring book, N$(& *% 8ANB%R%, a satirical noel e>posing the arrogance and despotis0 of the #panish clerg+, was
published in "erlin7 in 1-,A he reprinted in )aris, *orga<s #?//%##$# @% (A# &#(A# 4&(&)&NA# with his annotations to proe that the
4ilipinos had a ciilization worth+ to be proud of een long before the #paniards set foot on )hilippine soil7 on #epte0ber 1-, 1-,1, %(
4&(&"?#8%R&#*$, his second noel and a seDuel to the N$(& and 0ore reolutionar+ and tragic than the latter, was printed in Bhent.
8hus, he was i0prisoned in 4ort #antiago fro0 Jul+ ., 1-,2 to Jul+ 15, 1-,2 on a charge that antiEfriar pa0phlets were found in the luggage
of his sister (ucia who arrie with hi0 fro0 1ong ;ong. Fhile a political e>ile in @apitan, he engaged in agriculture, fishing and business7 he
0aintained and operated a hospital7 he conducted classesE taught his pupils the %nglish and #panish languages, the arts.
&n his prison cell, he wrote an untitled poe0, now known as 5?lti0o Adios5 which is considered a 0asterpiece and a liing docu0ent
e>pressing not onl+ the hero<s great loe of countr+ but also that of all 4ilipinos. After a 0ock trial, he was conicted of rebellion, sedition and
of for0ing illegal association. &n the cold 0orning of @ece0ber :A, 1-,., Rizal, a 0an whose :5 +ears of life had been packed with aried
actiities which proed that the 4ilipino has capacit+ to eDual if not e>cel een those who treat hi0 as a slae, was shot at "agu0ba+an
4ield.
8he *ercado E Rizal 4a0il+
8he Rizals is considered one of the biggest fa0ilies during their ti0e. @o0ingo (a0Eco, the fa0il+Gs paternal ascendant
was a fullEblooded /hinese who ca0e to the )hilippines fro0 A0o+, /hina in the closing +ears of the 1=th centur+ and
0arried a /hinese halfEbreed b+ the na0e of &nes de la Rosa.
Researchers reealed that the *ercadoERizal fa0il+ had also traces of Japanese, #panish, *ala+ and %en Negrito blood
aside fro0 /hinese.
Jose Rizal ca0e fro0 a 1:E0e0ber fa0il+ consisting of his parents, 4rancisco *ercado && and 8eodora Alonso Realonda,
and nine sisters and one brother.
FRANCISCO MERCADO 21-1-E1-,-3
4ather of Jose Rizal who was the +oungest of 1: offsprings of Juan and /irila *ercado. "orn in "i6an, (aguna on April 1-,
1-1-7 studied in #an Jose /ollege, *anila7 and died in *anila.
TEODORA ALONSO 21-2=E1,1:3
*other of Jose Rizal who was the second child of (orenzo Alonso and "riCida de 9uintos. #he studied at the /olegio de
#anta Rosa. #he was a businessE0inded wo0an, courteous, religious, hardEworking and wellEread. #he was born in #anta
/ruz, *anila on Noe0ber 14, 1-2= and died in 1,1: in *anila.
SATURNINA RIZAL 21-5AE1,1:3
%ldest child of the RizalEAlonzo 0arriage. *arried *anuel 8i0oteo 1idalgo of 8anauan, "atangas.
PACIANO RIZAL 21-51E1,:A3
$nl+ brother of Jose Rizal and the second child. #tudied at #an Jose /ollege in *anila7 beca0e a far0er and later a
general of the )hilippine Reolution.
NARCISA RIZAL 21-52E1,:,3
8he third child. 0arried Antonio (opez at *orong, Rizal7 a teacher and 0usician.
OLYMPIA RIZAL 21-55E1--=3
8he fourth child. *arried #ilestre ?baldo7 died in 1--= fro0 childbirth.
LUCIA RIZAL 21-5=E1,1,3
8he fifth child. *arried *atriano 1erbosa.
MARIA RIZAL 21-5,E1,453
8he si>th child. *arried @aniel 4austino /ruz of "i6an, (aguna.
JOSE RIZAL 21-.1E1-,.3
8he second son and the seenth child. 1e was e>ecuted b+ the #paniards on @ece0ber :A,1-,..
CONCEPCION RIZAL 21-.2E1-.53
8he eight child. @ied at the age of three.
JOSEFA RIZAL 21-.5E1,453
8he ninth child. An epileptic, died a spinster.
TRINIDAD RIZAL 21-.-E1,513
8he tenth child. @ied a spinster and the last of the fa0il+ to die.
SOLEDAD RIZAL 21-=AE1,2,3
8he +oungest child 0arried )antaleon 9uintero.
&n /ala0ba, (aguna
19 June 1861
J$#% R&'A(, the seenth child of 4rancisco *ercado Rizal and 8eodora Alonso + 9uintos, was born in /ala0ba, (aguna.
22 June 1861
1e was baptized J$#% R&'A( *%R/A@$ at the /atholic of /ala0ba b+ the parish priest Re. Rufino /ollantes with Re.
)edro /asa6as as the sponsor.
28 Septembe 1862
8he parochial church of /ala0ba and the canonical books, including the book in which Rizal<s baptis0al records were
entered, were burned.
1-.4
"arel+ three +ears old, Rizal learned the alphabet fro0 his 0other.
186!
Fhen he was four +ears old, his sister /onception, the eight child in the Rizal fa0il+, died at the age of three. &t was on
this occasion that Rizal re0e0bered haing shed real tears for the first ti0e.
186! " 186#
@uring this ti0e his 0other taught hi0 how to read and write. 1is father hired a class0ate b+ the na0e of (eon *onro+
who, for fie 0onths until his 2*onro+3 death, taught Rizal the rudi0ents of (atin.
At about this ti0e two of his 0other<s cousin freDuented /ala0ba. ?ncle *anuel Alberto, seeing Rizal frail in bod+,
concerned hi0self with the ph+sical deelop0ent of his +oung nephew and taught the latter loe for the open air and
deeloped in hi0 a great ad0iration for the beaut+ of nature, while ?ncle Bregorio, a scholar, instilled into the 0ind of the
bo+ loe for education. 1e adised Rizal! 5Fork hard and perfor0 eer+ task er+ carefull+7 learn to be swift as well as
thorough7 be independent in thinking and 0ake isual pictures of eer+thing.5
6 June 1868
Fith his father, Rizal 0ade a pilgri0age to Antipolo to fulfill the ow 0ade b+ his 0other to take the child to the #hrine of
the Hirgin of Antipolo should she and her child surie the ordeal of delier+ which nearl+ caused his 0other<s life.
4ro0 there the+ proceeded to *anila and isited his sister #aturnina who was at the ti0e stud+ing in the (a /oncordia
/ollege in #ta. Ana.
1869
At the age of eight, Rizal wrote his first poe0 entitled 5#a Aking *ga ;abata.5 8he poe0 was written in tagalog and had
for its the0e 5(oe of $ne<s (anguage.5
%arl+ %ducation in /ala0ba and "i6an
Rizal had his earl+ education in /ala0ba and "i6an. &t was a t+pical schooling that a son of an ilustrado fa0il+ receied
during his ti0e, characterized b+ the four R<sE reading, writing, arith0etic, and religion. &nstruction was rigid and strict.
;nowledge was forced into the 0inds of the pupils b+ 0eans of the tedious 0e0or+ 0ethod aided b+ the teacher<s whip.
@espite the defects of the #panish s+ste0 of ele0entar+ education, Rizal was able to acDuire the necessar+ instruction
preparator+ for college work in *anila. &t 0a+ be said that Rizal, who was born a ph+sical weakling, rose to beco0e an
intellectual giant not because of, but rather in spite of, the out0oded and backward s+ste0 of instruction obtaining in the
)hilippines during the last decades of #panish regi0e.
T$e %e&'( F)(t Te*+$e
8he first teacher of Rizal was his 0other, who was a re0arkable wo0an of good character and fine culture. $n her lap, he
learned at the age of three the alphabet and the pra+ers. 5*+ 0other,5 wrote Rizal in his student 0e0oirs, 5taught 0e
how to read and to sa+ haltingl+ the hu0ble pra+ers which & raised ferentl+ to Bod.5
As tutor, @o6a 8eodora was patient, conscientious, and understanding. &t was she who first discoered that her son had a
talent for poetr+. Accordingl+, she encouraged hi0 to write poe0s. 8o lighten the 0onoton+ of 0e0orizing the A"/<s and
to sti0ulate her son<s i0agination, she related 0an+ stories.
As Jose grew older, his parents e0plo+ed priate tutors to gie hi0 lessons at ho0e. 8he first was *aestro /elestino and
the second, *aestro (ucas )adua. (ater, an old 0an na0ed (eon *onro+, a for0er class0ate of Rizal<s father, beca0e the
bo+<s tutor. 8his old teacher lied at the Rizal ho0e and instructed Jose in #panish and (atin. ?nfortunatel+, he did not
lied long. 1e died fie 0onths later.
After a *onro+<s death, the hero<s parents decided to send their gifted son to a priate school in "i6an.
J&(e ,&e( t& -).*n
$ne #unda+ afternoon in June , 1-.,, Jose, after kissing the hands of his parents and a tearful parting fro0 his sister, left
/ala0ba for "i6an. 1e was acco0panied b+ )aciano , who acted as his second father. 8he two brothers rode in a
carro0ata, reaching their destination after one and oneEhalf hours< drie. 8he+ proceeded to their aunt<s house, where
Jose was to lodge. &t was al0ost night when the+ arried, and the 0oon was about to rise.
8hat sa0e night, Jose, with his cousin na0ed (eandro, went sightseeing in the town. &nstead of enCo+ing the sights, Jose
beca0e depressed because of ho0esickness. 5&n the 0oonlight,5 he recounted, 5& re0e0bered 0+ ho0e town, 0+
idolized 0other, and 0+ solicitous sisters. Ah, how sweet to 0e was /ala0ba, 0+ own town, in spite of the fact that was
not as wealth+ as "i6an.5
F)(t D*/ )n -).*n S+$&&0