José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda[7] (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse

riˈsal]; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino

nationalist and polymath during the tail end of the Spanish colonial period of
the Philippines. An ophthalmologist by profession, Rizal became a writer and a key
member of the Filipino Propaganda Movement which advocated political reforms for the
colony under Spain.
He was executed by the Spanish colonial government for the crime of rebellion after
the Philippine Revolution, inspired in part by his writings, broke out. Though he was not
actively involved in its planning or conduct, he ultimately approved of its goals which
eventually led to Philippine independence.
He is widely considered one of the greatest heroes of the Philippines and has been
recommended to be so honored by an officially empaneled National Heroes Committee.
However, no law, executive order or proclamation has been enacted or issued officially
proclaiming any Filipino historical figure as a national hero.[8] He was the author of the
novels Noli Me Tángere and El filibusterismo, and a number of poems and essays.[9][10]
José Rizal was born in 1861 to Francisco Rizal Mercado y Alejandro and Teodora Alonso
Realonda y Quintos in the town of Calamba in Laguna province. He had nine sisters and
one brother. His parents were leaseholders of a hacienda and an accompanying rice farm
by the Dominicans. Both their families had adopted the additional surnames
of Rizal and Realonda in 1849, after Governor General Narciso Clavería y
Zaldúa decreed the adoption of Spanish surnames among the Filipinos for census
purposes (though they already had Spanish names).
Like many families in the Philippines, the Rizals were of mixed origin. José's patrilineal
lineage could be traced back to Fujian in China through his father's ancestor Lam-Co, a
Chinese merchant who immigrated to the Philippines in the late 17th century.[11][12][note
1][13] Lam-Co traveled to Manila from Amoy, China, possibly to avoid the famine or plague

in his home district, and more probably to escape the Manchu invasion during
the Transition from Ming to Qing. He finally decided to stay in the islands as a farmer. 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 blood. His mother's lineage can be traced to
the affluent Florentina family of Chinese mestizo families originating in Baliuag,
Bulacan.[14] José Rizal also had Spanish ancestry. His grandfather was a half Spaniard
engineer named Lorenzo Alberto Alonzo.[15]