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José Rizal

FILIPINO POLITICAL LEADER AND AUTHOR

WRITTEN BY: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

LAST UPDATED: Jun 15, 2019 See Article History

Alternative Title: José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda

José Rizal

QUICK FACTS

Rizal, José

BORN

June 19, 1861

Calamba, Philippines

DIED

December 30, 1896 (aged 35)

Manila, Philippines
NOTABLE WORKS

“The Social Cancer”

“The Reign of Greed”

FOUNDER OF

Liga Filipina

José Rizal, in full José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, (born June 19, 1861, Calamba,
Philippines—died December 30, 1896, Manila), patriot, physician, and man of letters who was an
inspiration to the Philippine nationalist movement.

The son of a prosperous landowner, Rizal was educated in Manila and at the University of Madrid. A
brilliant medical student, 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.

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 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.
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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn, Managing Editor.

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MORE ABOUT José Rizal

7 REFERENCES FOUND IN BRITANNICA ARTICLES

Assorted References

admiration for Burgos

In José Burgos

influence on Filipino literature

In Southeast Asian arts: The Philippines

role in Philippine history

In Philippine Revolution

In Philippines: The 19th century

In history of Southeast Asia: Transformation of state and society

“The Social Cancer”

In The Social Cancer

veneration by Rizalist cult

In Rizalist cult

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