CHAPTER 18

Biarritz vacation and romance with nelly

Boustead (1891)
• To seek solace for his disappointments in Madrid, Rizal took a vacation in
the resort city of Biarritz on the fabulous French Rivera. He was a guest of the
rich Boustead family at its winter residence- Villa Eliada.
• He had befriended Mr. Eduardo Boustead and his wife and two charming
daughters (Adelina and Nellie) in Paris in 1889-90.
• It was in Biarritz where he had a serious romance with Nellie and
finished the last chapter of his second novel, El Filibusterismo.
• Rizal arrived in Biarritz at the beginning of February, 1891.
• As a family guest, he was treated with friendliness and hospitality
by Mrs. Boustead, Adelina, Nellie and Aunt Isabel (Mrs. Boustead’s
sister).
 ROMANCE WITH NELLE BOUSTEAD

• He found her to be a real Filipina, highly intelligent, vivacious in

temperament, and morally upright.
• He wrote to his intimate friends, except Professor Blumentritt, of his love for
Nellie, also called Nelly, and his intention to propose marriage to her.
• Rizal’s marriage proposal failed for two reasons; (1) he refused to give up his
Catholic faith and be converted to
Protestantism, as Nelly demanded, and (2) Nelly’s mother did not like Rizal
as a son-in-law.
• Nelly’s mother, like the mother of Leonor Rivera, had no wish to entrust her
daughters happiness to a man who was poor in material things.
• Although, they could not get married, Rizal and Nellie pated ways as good
friends.
EL FILIBUSTERISMO FINISHED IN BIARRITZ

• Evidently, while wooing Nellie and enjoying so “many

magnificent moonlight nights” he kept working on his second novel
which he began to write in Calamba in 1887.
• On March 29, 1891 the end of departure from Biarritz to Paris, he
finished the manuscript of El Filibusterismo.
 TO PARIS AND BACK TO BRUSSELS

• As he had written to Blumentritt, Rizal bade farewell to the hospitable and

friendly Bousteads (parents and daughters) on March 30, 1891 and proceeded
to Paris by train.
• From Paris, he wrote to his friend, Jose Ma. Basa, in Hong Kong, on April 4
expressing his desire to go to that British colony and practice ophthalmology
in order to earn his living.
• By the middle of April 1891, Rizal was back to
Brussels, where he was happily received by Marie and
Suzanne Jacoby (his landladies) and above all, by Petite
Suzanne (the Belgian girl who loved him).
 R E T I R E M E N T F R O M T H E P R O PA G A N D A
MOVEMENT
• Since abdicating his leadership in Madrid in January, 1891, owing
to the intrigues of his jealous compatriots, Rizal retired from the
Propaganda Movement or reform crusade.
• From Brussels on May 1, 1891, he notified the Propaganda
authorities in Manila to cancel his monthly allowance and devote
the money to some better cause, such as the education of a young
Filipino student in Europe.
 RIZAL STOPPED WRITING FOR LA SOLIDARID

Simultaneous with his retirement from the Propaganda

Movement, Rizal ceased writing articles for La Solidaridad.
M.H del Pillar himself realized the need for Rizal’s collaboration
in both Propaganda Movement and in the La Solidaridad newspaper
because the enthusiasm for the reform crusade in Spain was
declining.
On August 7, 1891, he wrote to Rizal begging forgiveness.
for any resentment and requesting him (Rizal) to resume
writing for the La Solidaridad.
Revising the Fili for Publication
• In Brussels Rizal worked day after day revising the finished
manuscript of El Filibusterismo and readied it for printing, the
revision was mostly completed on May 30, 1891.
• Two weeks later, on June 13, Rizal informed Basa that
he is now negotiating with a printing firm and he don’t
know if it will be printed in (Belguim) or in Spain.