The Women of

Rizal
RIZAL AS A LADIES' MAN
 “had
flirte
have d an
had d co
relat amo uld
ions rous
than with
JOSE
L 18 w no le
RIZA
oma ss
10 w n ”
ere f
oreig
ners
8 Fili
pino
s
⦿ There were at least nine women linked
Rizal,
with Rizal, the
namely: Romantic
⚫Segunda Katigbak
⚫Leonor Valenzuela
⚫Leonor Rivera These women
might have been
⚫Consuelo Ortiga beguiled by his
⚫O-Sei San intelligence,
⚫Gertrude Beckett charm and wit.

⚫Nelly Boustead
⚫Suzanne Jacoby
First
Girlf
riend
JULIA
 Julia
lady is a sixte
girlfr she was en year
iend the f old
of Ri irst
Rizal z al.
tree was che
balimyard of a cking th
and bing, m tis, eir
end tampoy acopa,
river to the ri this treesantol,
only shore aver side yard
Julia 15 whennd Riza or
nam by accid he firs l was
Bañoed Dam ent in at saw
Eastes a few palit in L river
r in 1 days os
877. after
 She w
wrap as wear
arou i
nd skng a red
Julia irt.
c
butte ould no
ever rfly she t catch t
wrot gallant, was ch he
e. caug asing
ht tw . Riza
Hear o, Tr l
i l lana
fond t beating
butteness, Riz with str
inno rflies an al offer ange
cent e
plea d she laud her the
He w sure ghed
. with
But f as instan
cont or lack o tly attra
Julia act, Riza f subse cted to h
Cele l eve q er.
ste S ntualuent
mith ly fo
. rgot
 SEG
UND
KATI A
GBA
K
 Born in 1863 in Lipa, Batangas to Norberto
Kalaw Katigbak and Justa Solis.

⦿ She was the second child in a family of

seven.

⦿ Segunda Katigbak was Rizal’s puppy love

(love at first sight)

⦿ Unfortunately, his first love was engaged to

be married to a townmate, Manuel Luz.
"She was rather short, with eyes
that were eloquent and ardent at
times and languid at others,
rosy-cheeked, with an enchanting
and provocative smile that
revealed very beautiful teeth, and
the air of a sylph; her entire self
diffused a mysterious charm." -
Rizal
o Rizal (16 yrs old) + Segunda (14 yrs. old)
(‘colegiala’)

o 1880’s, the Katigbaks of Batangas - coffee

industry.

o Segunda (white artificial rose) - Rizal gave

her in exchange pencil sketch he had drawn
of her.

o Olympia - La Concordia College

Rizal said while recording his first romance three years later…

"Ended, at an early hour, my first

love! My virgin heart will always
mourn the reckless step it took on
the flower-decked abyss. My
illusions will return, yes, but
indifferent, uncertain, ready for the
first betrayal on the path of love."
Leonor Valenzuela (Pagsanjan)
After his admiration for a short girl in
the person of Segunda, then came
Leonor Valenzuela.
⦿ A tall girl from Pagsanjan, fondly
called “Orang”.
⦿ regal bearing who was Rizal’s
province-mate. She was the
daughterof Capitan Juan and
Capitana Sanday Valenzuela, who
were from Pagsanjan, Laguna.
Rizal’s neighbor when he boarded in
the house of Doña Concha
Leyva in Intramuros during his
sophomore year at the University of
Santo Tomas as medicine student.

Rizal frequently visited Orang’s house

with or without social gatherings.
 Rizal
send
note her l
s wri ove
invis tten
ible in
com ink m
mon ade
wate table of
r, wh salt a
read ich c nd
by h o u ld
over e a t ing th e b
a can e no
dle o te
He v r l amp
isited .
eve o her o
f his n the
Spai d
n and epartur
last g bade e to
oodb h er a
ye.
But why would Rizal want to make
it secret?
Many references declare that Orang
was Rizal’s object of affection (too)
while he was courting the other
Leonor (Leonor Rivera).

Without clear material evidence, the

‘two-timer charge’ could indeed be
easily denied….
 Whe
n Riz
he re al lef
ceive t for
his fr d a le Spain
iend t t e ,
ain
Jose and r from
M. C confi
(Che ecilio dant
or Sp
nggo
that y) in
the t dicat
idea wo la ing
dies
left f

that had
deno their an
mina ‘com
only tor’ w mon
their as no
Rizal

first t
name
….
 ASSUMPTIONS

1. Either Orang was giving way to Rivera-Rizal

love affair or

2. She (Orang) was not that interested in Rizal.

(either a rebound relationship (from Segunda-Jose

failed affair) or an unhealthy love triangle (with the
other Leonor in the equation).
Orang didn’t feel much sorrow upon
Rizal’s departure. She was said to
have accepted other suitors, attended
social parties, and ended up marrying
an employee of a trade house.
LEO
NOR R
IV ERA
⦿ Leonor Rivera, his sweetheart
for 11 years played the
greatest influence in keeping
him from falling in love with
other women during his travel.

⦿ Unfortunately, Leonor’s mother

disapproved of her daughter’s
relationship with Rizal, who
was then a known filibustero.
Her mother Sylvestra Bauson (Tia Beyang) hid

from Leonor all letters sent to her by Rizal.

Leonor believing that Rizal had already forgotten

her, sadly consented her to marry the English

Engineer Henry Kipping, her mother’s choice.

Headed the Manila-Dagupan

Railway Project
 1890
with , Leo
h e nor p
Kipp r marr roce
eded
ing o iage
ut of to
Cond Delik
ition adez
: a
(1) h
er m
besi om w
de h
wed er du ill stand
ding ring
the
(2) s
he w
agai ill ne
n ver s
ing
(3) s
he w
pian ill ne
o ag ver p
ain lay
11 April 1867 – 28 August 1893
ivera
She was immortalized by Rizal
as the character Maria Clara in
Noli Me Tangere.
or R
Camiling, Tarlac
Leon
Rivera’s family resided in
Dagupan from 1890 to 1891,
when the railroad line between
Manila and Dagupan was
being constructed
nd
Rivera and Kipping
were married on
June 17, 1890 in
Dagupan. Their first
child was Carlos
Rivera Kipping, Sr.,
who married
Lourdes Romulo, a
sister of Filipino
diplomat Carlos P.
Romulo.
 They
beco
hear m e sw
t s
both while t eet
Man s t u h
dyin ey wer

ET?
ila g in e
EY M Rizal
was
boar stayi
d i n g n g in th
owne hous e
d
fathe by Leo e
TH

r nor’s
HOW

Leon
or ha
faith d be
ful e e
Rizal ven t n
Euro w a s h o u g
pe s t u d yin h
 Dum
ating
malu na ya
Tadh pit, ong
sand
a
pait, na ng p aling

Y
a lad n

NOR
Heto
A n a suk
sagli a, sa wa dol n
AM K
t k a g
Ng p s , ang
a
dibd ghihiwa araw
LEO
i b l a at
Paala . y ng
p
m uso t
PAAL

ako , Leo a’t

nor k
Puso o, pa
n g s alam
iyo umis n a
Paala i n ta’y
m lalay
ko , Leo o na
nor, sa
Oh! L p aalam
Anon uksang- buha
y
g sak pag-a
lap, o lis, a
h! y!
 Nahu
hulo
ang g na
iyon s
wala g ka iya nang
s
kung ng duda intahan, husto,
kany anuman ng epek
to
a
ngay . Siyang umaba b
naka on lang s nananal gabag sa
k a ra i ya ig na
pag- nas n
i
sa la big, nag g ganito
l
kany aki ng sasakrip ng
a n g isyo
sa ha puso para
masa lip na du , at nama
ito’y yang wa mating a malas na
puso matuling kas, ng
gayu ang hind umaalpa
- Ch ng kalag i matitin s-anong
engg ayan ag n
oy (J ? g
ose M
. Cec
ilio)
 Consuelo Ortiga (Madrid)
Consuelo Ortiga y Rey, the pretiest
of Don Pablo Ortiga's daughters,
fell in love with him. He dedicated
to her A la Senorita C.O. y R.,
which became one of his best
poems.
It was said that even Maximino
and Antonio Paterno, Rizal’s good
friends, regularly visited the lad.
Crush ng Bayan
 Consuelo Ortiga (Madrid)
⦿ Rizal probably fell in love with her and
Consuelo apparently asked him for
romantic verses.
⦿ He suddenly backed out before the
relationship turned into a serious
romance, because he wanted to
remain loyal to Leonor Rivera and he
did not want to destroy hid friendship
with Eduardo de Lete who was madly
in love with Consuelo.
▪ It can be REMEMBERED that Eduardo
de Lete (the ‘karibal’) was one of the
Filipinos who promised Rizal of helping in
the writing of a nationalistic novel but
ended up contributing nothing—for they,
according to Rizal, were MORE interested
to write on women and would rather
spend their time gambling or flirting with
Spanish women.
▪ Most likely, Consuelo had witnessed Rizal’s
recitation of a poem on October 4, 1882 in
the effort to SAVE a Filipino meeting from
disintegration. Rizal had also recorded
either in his diary or letters that he
attended another meeting of compatriots in
ORTIGA’s residence on October 7, 1882 and
the BIRTHDAY PARTY of Consuelo’s father
on January 15, 1883.
Diary of Consuelo

Consuelo recorded in her diary that she first met

Rizal on September 16, 1882 when he went to
Spain for the first time primarily to study

Consuelo wrote:

“Rizal talked with me for a long time, almost the

whole night. He told me that I was very talented,
that I was very diplomatic, and that he was going
to see if he could extract some truth from me
within two weeks; that I was mysterious and that
I had a veil over my ideas …”
Consuelo’s diary ended on May 28, 1884 when
Rizal came to their house one morning to BID
FAREWELL. Until the very end, Consuelo could
not HELP but express her admiration with
Rizal’s ingenious humor and intelligence.

“Last night many came to bid us farewell. Rizal

was the first to arrive. I had on a morning cape
that I had made out of the cloth that Rizal had
given me as a present. I made a grand
impression. I showed it to him saying: “So you see
I’ve fulfilled my promise; I’m dressed like a doll.”
▪ According to Lete, soon after the formalization of their
engagement, she soon lost her humor. It also seems that
their marriage did not push through. Lete narrates that
years after her father’s death, Consuelo’s brother Rafael
went to the Philippines to fill in a government post but
died suddenly. Lete further recounts:

▪ “She was left alone and abandoned in Madrid. A romantic

girl deprived of her mother at an early age, possessing an
education rare in those times, she saw all her love affairs
crumble and all her illusions dry up.”
▪ “She was very unfortunate, dying alone, sad,
and abandoned, a victim of tuberculosis …
An excellent and memorable friend
communicated to me this news when I went
to Madrid as representative of a very
important news agency of London on the
occasion of the marriage of King Alfonso
XIII in 1906 … May she rest in peace.”
O Sei San, Japan
• Seiko Usui, or more commonly
known as O Sei San, a Japanese
samurai's daughter taught Rizal
the Japanese art of painting
known as su-mie.
• She also helped Rizal improve
his knowledge of Japanese
language.

SAYONARA
 O Sei San, Japan
If Rizal were a man without
a patriotic mission, he
would have married this
lovely and intelligent
woman and lived a stable
and happy life with her in
Japan because Spanish
legation there offered him a
lucrative job. “TOUR GUIDE”
In 1897, a year after Rizal’s martyrdom,
Seiko married Alfred Charlton, British
chemistry teacher of the Peer’s School
in Tokyo.

Mr. Charlton died on November 2,

1915, survived by Seiko and their child
Yuriko.
“Japan has enchanted me. The beautiful
scenery, the flowers, the trees, and the
inhabitants – so peaceful, so courteous, and
so pleasant. O-Sei-San, Sayonara, Sayonara! I
have spent a happy golden month; I do not
know if I can have another one like that in all
my life. Love, money, friendship,
appreciation, honors –these have not been
wanting.

To think that I am leaving this life for the

uncertain, the unknown. There I was offered
an easy way to live, beloved and
esteemed…”
 Gertrude Beckett (London)
While Rizal was in London
annotating the Sucesos de
las Islas Filipinas, he
boarded in the house of
the Beckett family, within
walking distance of the
British Museum.

Rizal was 27 years old.

• Lived at London, England
• Eldest among three sisters
• Nickname was “Tottie” or “Gettie”
• Daughter of Charles Beckett(Rizal’s
landlord)
• Curvy lady, cheerful blue eyes, brown hair,
rosy cheeks and thin lips
• Sources states that she is the most
beautiful among Rizal’s women
 Gertrude and Rizal

• Rizal nicknamed Gertrude as “Gettie” and

she called him “Pettie”
• Gave Rizal more-than normal assistance
• Showered him with all attention
• Assisted Rizal in his paintings and sculptures
• Together they’ve finished sculptures like
“Prometheus Bound”, “Triumph of Death
over Life and “Triumph of Science over
• Death”
Rizal enjoyed Gertrude’s loving service but ;
• Sources suggests that Rizal never reciprocated
her love
• Rizal backed out on their romance

• Rizal had greater missions to fulfil

• Rizal opted out in order to accomplish those

• Before leaving, he gave Gettie a sculptural

work. The carving of the Beckett sisters.
Gertrude Beckett (London)
⦿ Tottie helped him in his painting
and sculpture.
⦿ But Rizal suddenly left London
for Paris to avoid Gertrude, who
“Stalker
was seriously in love with him. ni Rizal”
⦿ Before leaving London, he was
able to finish the group carving
of the Beckett sisters.
⦿ He gave the group carving to
Gertrude as a sign of their brief
relationship.
 Nellie Boustead (Germany)
⦿ Rizal having lost Leonor Rivera,
entertained the thought of courting
other ladies.
⦿ While a guest of the Boustead
family at their residence in the
resort city of Biarritz, he had
befriended the two pretty
daughters of his host, Eduardo
Boustead.
“Wife Material”
 Nellie Boustead (Germany)

⦿ Rizal used to fence with the

sisters at the studio of Juan Luna.
⦿ Antonio Luna, Juan Luna’s
brother and also a frequent
visitor of the Bousteads, courted
Nellie but she was deeply
infatuated with Rizal.
 Nellie Boustead
⦿ In a party held by Filipinos in
Madrid, a drunken Antonio Luna
uttered unsavory remarks
against Nellie Boustead.
⦿ This prompted Rizal to
challenge Luna into a duel.
⦿ Fortunately, Luna apologized to
Rizal, thus averting tragedy for
the compatriots.
 Nellie Boustead
⦿ Their love affair unfortunately
did not end in marriage.
⦿ It failed because Rizal refused to
be converted to the Protestant
faith, as Nellie demanded and
Nellie’s mother did not like a
physician without enough paying
clientele to be a son-in-law.

⦿ The lovers, however, parted as

good friends when Rizal left
Europe.
Suzanne Jacoby, Brussels
In 1890, Rizal moved to
Brussels because of the
high cost of living in Paris.
In Brussels, he lived in the
boarding house of the two
Jacoby sisters.
In time, they fell deeply in
love with each other.
Suzanne cried when Rizal
left Brussels and wrote him
when he was in Madrid.
 Suzanne Jacoby
⦿ In 1890, Rizal moved to
Brussels because of the high
cost of living in Paris. In
Brussels, he lived in the
boarding house of the two
Jacoby sisters. In time, they
fell deeply in love with each
other.
⦿ Suzanne cried when Rizal left
Brussels and wrote him when
he was in Madrid.
 Josephine Bracken
⦿ In the last days of February 1895,
while still in Dapitan, Rizal met an
18-year old petite Irish girl, with
bold blue eyes, brown hair and a
happy disposition.
⦿ She was Josephine Bracken, the
adopted daughter of George
Taufer from Hong Kong, who came
to Dapitan to seek Rizal for eye
treatment.
 Josephine Bracken
⦿ Rizal was physically attracted to her.
⦿ His loneliness and boredom must
have taken the measure of him and
what could be a better diversion
that to fall in love again.
⦿ But the Rizal sisters suspected
Josephine as an agent of the friars
and they considered her as a threat
to Rizal’s security.
⦿ Rizal asked Josephine to marry him, but she was
not yet ready to make a decision due to her
responsibility to the blind Taufer.
⦿ Since Taufer’s blindness was untreatable, he left
for Hong Kong on March 1895.
⦿ Josephine stayed with Rizal’s family in Manila.
⦿ Upon her return to Dapitan, Rizal tried to arrange
with Father Antonio Obach for their marriage.
⦿ However, the priest wanted a retraction as a
precondition before marrying them.
Rizal upon the advice of his
family and friends and with
Josephine’s consent took her as
his wife even without the
Church blessings.
Josephine later give birth
prematurely to a stillborn baby,
a result of some incidence,
which might have shocked or
frightened her.
end