𝔻𝕣.

𝕁𝕠𝕤𝕖 ℝ𝕚𝕫𝕒𝕝: ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 ℍ𝕖𝕣𝕠 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕡𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤

Dr Jose Protacio Rizal was born in the town of Calamba, Laguna on 19th June 1861.

The second son and the seventh among the eleven children of Francisco Mercado and

Teodora Alonso. Dr. Jose Rizal was a man of intellect, a patriot, and most importantly a

reformist. His worked for Philippine Independence from that Spaniards that were occupying

the nation at that time. Rizal's many works were influential to people of his time period and to

people all over the world today. He was a leader in many subject areas and his legacy will

continue to last through the decades to come.

In his early childhood, Jose had mastered the alphabet, learned to write and read

books like the Spanish version of the Vulgate Bible. At young age, he already showed

inclinations to arts. He amazed his family by his pencil drawings, sketches, and moldings of

clay. Later in his childhood, he showed special talent in painting and sculpture, wrote a

Tagalog play which was presented at a Calamba fiesta, and penned a short play in Spanish

which was presented in school. Dr. Jose Rizal graduated high school with the highest honors

at the age of 16. He concentrated his studies in land surveying.

After leaving high school he further pursued his training in land surveying and

completed training in 1877. He passed the exam to get his license in this field in May of 1878.

However, he was unable to receive the license because he was just 17 and thus underaged at

the time. He was not given the license until he came of age in 1881.
 When Dr. Jose Rizal could not get his license, he decided to take Philosophy and

Letters at the University of Santo Tomas, while at the same time enrolled in a course in land

surveying at the Ateneo. He finished his surveyor's training in 1877, passed the licensing

exam in May 1878, though the license was granted to him only in 1881 when he reached the

age of majority. He enrolled in medicine at the University of Santo Tomas in 1878. Sensing

however that the Filipino students were being discriminated by the Dominican professors, he

left UST without finishing his course.

On May 3, 1882, he went to Spain and enrolled at the Universidad Central de Madrid.

In June of 1884, he received the degree of Licentiate in Medicine at the age of 23. After a year

after he graduated with his medical degree, he obtained a degree from the department of

Philosophy and Letters. Dr. Jose Rizal wanted to cure his mother’s advancing blindness so

went back to school once again to advance his knowledge in the field of ophthalmology. He

studied in Paris and Germany and completed another doctorate degree in Heidelberg in 1887.

Jose then moved to Europe where he remained for ten years. During the time spent in

Europe, Rizal learned 10 languages and could speak them all fluently. He impressed

everyone he met because of his wit, charismatic personality and intelligence. He also wrote

his first novel during the time he was in Europe and continued to write even

more novels throughout his life. One of the novels he wrote, titled Noli Me Tangere, was

printed in Berlin in 1887. However, this novel offended Catholic church officials and members

and, despite his apologies, he was listed as a troublemaker.

Rizal eventually was exiled for his writings which called for reform in Spain. However,

he returned to the Philippines in 1892 where he promptly faced accusations of being there to

start a rebellion.
 He was sent in exile to an island where he taught for approximately four years. It was

during this time that he met a girl named Josephine Bracken. They requested a license to

marry, but because of his troubles with the church they were denied.

In 1896, Rizal received a permission from the Governor General to become a volunteer

military physician in the revolution in Cuba, which was at the time also raged by yellow fever.

But the ‘Katipunan’ started the Philippine Revolution on August 26, 1896. The powerful people

whose animosity Rizal had provoked took the opportunity to implicate him to the rebellion.

After a trial in a kangaroo court, he was convicted of rebellion and sentenced to death by firing

squad at Bagumbayan Field (now Luneta).

Despite denying the charges vehemently he was sentenced to death. Approximately

two hours prior to being executed, he was permitted to marry Josephine. Facing the sky, the

man died in that serene morning of December 30, 1896. But since then, he has lived

perpetually in the hearts and minds of true Filipinos.