{ Background, Childhood, Parents and Siblings

Group 1
Rizal’s
Family
Background
The Mercado - Rizal
Family
- Considered to be one of the biggest families during their time.

- Domingo Lam-co, the family's paternal ascendant was a full-

blooded Chinese who came to the Philippines from Amoy, China
in the closing years of the 17th century and married a Chinese
half-breed by the name of Ines de la Rosa.

- Researchers revealed that the Mercado-Rizal family had also

traces of Japanese, Spanish, Malay and Even Negrito blood aside
from Chinese.

- José Rizal came from a 13-member family consisting of his

parents, Francisco Mercado II and Teodora Alonso Realonda, and
nine sisters and one brother. He was the seventh of eleven
children.
Dr. José Rizal's
Early
Childhood
 Early
Childhood
June 19, 1861
- José Rizal, the seventh child of Francisco
Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso y Quintos,
was born in Calamba, Laguna.

June, 22 1861
- He was baptized José Rizal Mercado at the
Catholic of Calamba by the parish priest Rev.
Rufino Collantes with Rev. Pedro Casañas as the
sponsor.

September 28, 1862

- The parochial church of Calamba and the
canonical books, including the book in which
Rizal’s baptismal records were entered, were
burned.
 1864
- Barely three years old, Rizal learned the alphabet from his mother.

1865
- When he was four years old, his sister Conception, the eight child in the
Rizal family, died at the age of three. It was on this occasion that Rizal
remembered having shed real tears for the first time.

1865 – 1867
- During this time his mother taught him how to read and write. His father
hired a classmate by the name of Leon Monroy who, for five months until his
(Monroy) death, taught Rizal the rudiments of Latin. At about this time two
of his mother’s cousin frequented Calamba.
Uncle Manuel Alberto, seeing Rizal frail in body, concerned himself with the
physical development of his young nephew and taught the latter love for the
open air and developed in him a great admiration for the beauty of nature,
while Uncle Gregorio, a scholar, instilled into the mind of the boy love for
education. He advised Rizal: “Work hard and perform every task very
carefully; learn to be swift as well as thorough; be independent in thinking
and make visual pictures of everything.”
 June 6, 1868
- With his father, Rizal made a pilgrimage to Antipolo to fulfill the vow
made by his mother to take the child to the Shrine of the Virgin of Antipolo
should she and her child survive the ordeal of delivery which nearly caused
his mother’s life. From there they proceeded to Manila and visited his
sister Saturnina who was at the time studying in the La Concordia College
in Sta. Ana.

1869
- At the age of eight, Rizal wrote his first poem entitled “Sa Aking Mga
Kabata”. The poem was written in Tagalog and had for its theme “Love of
One’s Language.”
Rizal’s
Parents
Rizal’s Father
FRANCISCO MERCADO
(1818-1898)
- The youngest of the 13 offspring's of Juan
and Cirila Mercado
- Born in Biñan, Laguna on May 11, 1818
- Studied Latin and Philosophy at the San
José College in Manila
- After his parents death he moved to
Calamba and became a tenant-farmer of
the Dominican-owned hacienda
- He was a hardy and independent man, a
hardworking man of few words.
- Died in Manila on January 5, 1898 at the
age of 80
- Rizal called his father affectionately
"a model of fathers".
 Rizal’s Mother
TEODORA ALONSO (1826-1911)
- Born in Manila on November 8, 1826 as the second child of Lorenzo
Alonso and Brijida de Quintos.

- She went to school at the College of Santa Rosa.

- She was a remarkable woman, she possessed refined culture, literary

talent, business ability and the fortitude of Spartan women.

- Rizal wrote about his loving mother "My mother is a woman of more than
ordinary culture; she is a mathematician and has read many books."

- Died in Manila on August 16, 1911, at the age of 85, in her house in San
Fernando Street, Binondo.
- Shortly before her death, the Philippine government offered her a life pension.
She Courteously rejected it saying,

"My Family has never been patriotic for money. If

the government has plenty of funds and does not
know what to do with them, better reduce taxes.“

Such remark truly befitted her as a worthy mother

of a national here !
Rizal’s
Siblings
Rizal’s Siblings
SATURNINA RIZAL (1850-1913)
Eldest child of the Rizal-Alonzo marriage. Her nickname was Neneng.
She had five children by her husband Manuel T. Hidalgo of Tanawan,
Batangas.

PACIANO RIZAL (1851-1930)

Only brother and confidant of José Rizal and the second child. He
became as a second father to Jose Rizal. Studied at San José College in
Manila. Just like his father, Paciano became a farmer. It was his idea
to send Jose to continue his studies in Spain. After his younger
brother´ excecution, he joined the Philippine revolution and became a
combat General. After the Revolution, he retired to his farm in Los
Boños where he lived as a gentleman farmer and died on April 13,
1930, an old bachelor aged 79. he had two children by his mistress
(Severina Deccena).
 NARCISA RIZAL (1852-1939)
The third child. Her pet name was Sisa. She married Antonio Lopez a teacher
and musician of Morong (Rizal).

OLYMPIA RIZAL (1855-1887)

The fourth child. Ypia was her pet name. Married Silvestre Ubaldo, a
telegraph operator from Manila; she died in 1887 from child birth.

LUCIA RIZAL (1857-1919)

The fifth child. Married Mariano Herbosa of Calamba. He was the nephew of
Father Casanas. Herbosa died of cholera in 1889 and was denied a Christian
burial because Dr. Rizal was his brother-in-law.

MARIA RIZAL (1859-1945)

The sixth child. Her nickname was Biang. Married Daniel Faustino Cruz of
Biñan, Laguna.
 JOSE RIZAL (1861-1896)
The second son and the seventh child. The greatest Filipino hero and a
tremendous genius. His nick name was Pepe. During his excile in Dapitan
he lived together with Josephine Bracken, an Irisch girl from Hong-Kong.
They had a son with her but their baby son died a few hours after birth.
Rizal named him Francisco after his father and buried him in Dapitan. José
was executed by the Spaniards on December 30,1896.

CONCEPCION RIZAL (1862-1865)

The eighth among the Rizal children, died at the age of three due to an
illness. Her pet name was Concha. As an older brother, Jose, who was four
at that time (in 1865), grieved so bitterly. He recalled having cried so hard
for the first time due to love and sorrow for their loss. According to him, "Till
then I had shed tears only for my own faults which my loving, prudent
mother well knew how to correct."

JOSEFA RIZAL (1865-1945)

Josefa Rizal or Panggoy had epilepsy. She was the ninth child of the family.
She died in 1945 at the age of 80. Due to her illness she never got married
and died as spinster.
 TRINIDAD RIZAL (1868-1951)
The tenth child. She was the longest living family member. They gave her the
pet name Trining. Like her sister Josefa, she never got married and also died
an old maid at the age of 83.

SOLEDAD RIZAL (1870-1929)

She was the youngest child of the Rizal-Mercado clan. Choleng was het pet
name. She later got married to Pantaleon Quintero, a native from Calamba,
Laguna.