The Advent

of a Hero
Birth, Ancestry
JOSE RIZAL: BIOGRAPHY
June 19,1861-December 30,1896
Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado
y Alonso Realonda
 Jose Rizal was born on the
moonlit night of Wednesday,
June 19, 1861, in the
lakeshore town of Calamba,
Laguna.
 His mother almost died during
the delivery because of his big
head.
 TALAMBUHAY
PANGALAN: Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado at
Alonso Realonda
PALAYAW: Pepe at Moy
KAARAWAN: Hunyo 19,1861
KAMATAYAN: Disyembre 30,1896
SINILANGAN: Calamba, Laguna
 The Birth of a Hero
 In his student memoirs:
“I was born in Calamba on 19 June
1861, between eleven and midnight,
a few days before full moon. It was a
Wednesday and my coming out in
this vale of tears would have cost my
mother her life had she not vowed to
the Virgin of Antipolo to take me to
take to her sanctuary by way of
pilgrimage.”
 The Birth of a Hero
 He was baptized in the Catholic
Church of his town on June 22,
aged three days old, by the parish
priest Fr. Rufino Collantes, who
was a Batangueno.
 His godfather was Fr. Pedro
Casanas, native of Calamba and
close friend of the Rizal-Mercado
family.
 The name “Jose” was chosen by
his mother who was a devotee of
St. Joseph.
Rizal’s Parents
 Jose Rizal is the
seventh child of the
eleven children of
Francisco Mercado
Rizal and Teodora
Alonso Realonda
Francisco Mercado Rizal
 Born in Binan, Laguna on May
11, 1818, Don Francisco studied
Latin and Philosophy at the
College of San Jose in Manila,
where he met and fell in love
with Teodora Alonso Realonda.
 In early manhood, following his
parents’ death when he was
eight, he moved to Calamba and
became a tenant-farmer of the
Dominican-owned hacienda.
Francisco Mercado Rizal
 Don Francisco was an industrious
farmer and independent-minded
man, who talked less and worked
more, and was strong in body
and valiant in spirit.
 He married Dona Teodora on
June 28, 1848, after which they
settled in Calamba, where they
engaged in farming and business.
 In his student memoirs, Rizal
affectionately called him “a
model of fathers.”
Francisco Mercado Rizal
 Rizal fondly recalls his father:
“My father had given us an
education commensurate with our
small fortune, and though thrift, he
was able to build a stone house, buy
another and to erect a little nipa house
in the middle of our orchard under the
shade of banana trees and others.”
 Don Francisco died in Manila on
January 5, 1898, at the age of 80.
Teodora Alonso Realonda
 Dona Teodora was born in Sta.
Cruz, Manila on November 8,
1826.
 She was educated at the College
of Santa Rosa, a well-known
college for girls in the city.
 Rizal called her a “remarkable
woman,” possessing refined
culture, literary talent, business
ability and the fortitude of
Spartan women.
Teodora Alonso Realonda
 Rizal lovingly said of his mother:
“My mother is a woman of more
than ordinary culture; she knows
literature and speaks Spanish better
than I. She corrected my poems and
gave me good advice when I was
studying rhetoric. She is a
mathematician and has read many
books.”
Teodora Alonso Realonda
 Rizal’s recollection of his mother:
“My loving and prudent mother
knew how to correct my stubbornness.
Without her, what would have become
of my education and what would have
been my fate? Oh, yes! After God, the
mother is everything to man. She
taught me how to read, she taught me
how to stammer the humble prayers
that I addressed fervently to God…”
Teodora Alonso Realonda
 Dona Teodora died in Manila on
August 16, 1911, at the age of 85.
 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 the taxes.”
The Rizal Children
 JOSE RIZAL: Family Life-GENOGRAM

Francisco
Teodora

Saturnina Paciano Narcisa Olimpia Lucia Maria Jose Concepcion Josefa Trinidad Solidad
The Rizal Children
 SATURNINA RIZAL (1850-1913)
Eldest child, nicknamed Neneg
who was married to Manuel
Timoteo Hidalgo of Tanauan,
Batangas.
 PACIANO RIZAL (1851-1930)
The only brother of Jose Rizal
and the second child. He
Studied at San Jose College in
Manila and became a farmer and
later a general of the Philippine
Revolution. He retired to his
farm in Los Banos, Laguna. He
had two children by his mistress
Severina Decena.
The Rizal Children
 NARCISA RIZAL (1852-
1939), nicknamed Sisa,
she is the third child
and married to Antonio
Lopez of Morong,
Rizal; she was a
teacher and musician.
 OLYMPIA RIZAL (1855-
1887), the fourth child
and married to
Silvestre Ubaldo of
Manila. She died in
1887 from childbirth.
The Rizal Children
 LUCIA RIZAL (1857-1919)
The fifth child and married to
Mariano Herbosa of Calamba who
died of cholera in 1889 but was
denied Christian burial because he
was the brother-in-law of Dr. Jose
Rizal.
 MARIA RIZAL (1859-1945)
Nicknamed Biang, she was sixth
child and married to Daniel
Faustino Cruz of Biñan, Laguna.
 JOSE RIZAL (1861-1896)
The second son and the seventh
child.
The Rizal Children
 CONCEPCION RIZAL (1862-1865)
Nicknamed Concha, the eight child
who died at the age of three.
 JOSEFA RIZAL (1865-1945)
Fondly called Panggoy, she was ninth
child who died a spinster at the age
of 80.
 TRINIDAD RIZAL (1868-1951)
The tenth child, Trining, also died an
old maid at the age of 83; she was
the last of the family to die.
 SOLEDAD RIZAL (1870-1929)
Nicknamed Choleng, she was the
youngest of the Rizal children and
married to Pantaleon Quintero of
Calamba.
• Sibling relationship among the Rizal
children was affectionately cordial.
• As a little boy, Jose used to play
games with his sisters.
Relationship with Paciano
 Paciano was ten years his
senior, thus, Rizal’s relationship
with his only brother was more
than that of a younger to older
brother.
 Paciano was a second father to
Jose who gave the hero wise
counsel and advice.
 Rizal regarded Paciano as the
“most noble of Filipinos.” He
immortalized him in his novel
Noli as the wise Pilosopo Tasio.
Rizal’s Ancestral Roots
 Rizal’s Ancestry
 Jose Rizal was a product of the mixture of
races. In his veins flowed the blood of both
East and West—Negrito, Indonesian, Malay,
Chinese, Japanese and Spanish.
 It is evident that Rizal’s maternal roots are
more prominent than his paternal relatives.
His mother’s relatives were professionals—
there were numerous lawyers, engineers,
government officials, writers, poets and
priests among them—the old-time proof of
social standing that made them influential
in the country.
Rizal’s Paternal
Ancestry
 Domingo Lam-co
 Rizal’s great grandfather on his father side,
Domingo Lam-co was a Chinese immigrant who
arrived in Manila about 1690.
 He was converted to Catholicism, married an
educated, well-to-do Chinese Christian girl of
Manila named Ines de la Rosa.
 It was clear that Domingo was above ordinary
standing and a person of some education.
 From Parian, they eventually settled in Binan,
Laguna and became tenants of Dominican friars.
 In 1731, he assumed the surname “Mercado,”
which means “merchant,” taking pride from his
ancestry.
 Reasons for changing the name
“Lam-co” to “Mercado”
To comply with the decree of Governor
General Narciso Claveria mandating that
indios and Chinese mestizos must adopt
Hispanic names;
To free the younger generation of the Lam-
co’s from the prejudices that followed
those with a Chinese name and at the same
time remind them of their roots—that of
being Chinese merchants.
 Francisco Mercado
 Domingo Lam-co and Ines dela Rosa had a son,
Francisco Mercado, who married Bernarda
Monicha, also a Chinese mestiza, with whom he
had two sons, Juan and Clemente.
 Francisco set out in life with the surname
“Mercado” that would free him from the prejudice
that followed those with Chinese names, and yet
would remind him of his Chinese ancestry.
 Francisco was well to do, as may be judged from
the number of carabaos he presented for
registration.
 In 1783, he was elected gobernadorcillo (municipal
mayor) of Binan, and he lived till 1801. His name
appears so often as godfather in the registers of
baptisms and weddings that he must have been a
good-natured, liberal and popular man.
 Juan Mercado
 One of the sons of Francisco and Bernarda was
Juan Mercado, Rizal’s grandfather, who married
Cirila Alejandro, also a Chinese-Filipino mestiza.
 Juan Mercado was three times the chief officer
of Biñan—in 1808, 1813 and 1823. He was one of
the electors to choose the Philippine
Representative to Spanish Cortes at a time when
the country was allowed to have representation
in Congress.
 He has a notable record for his generosity, the
absence of oppression and for the official
honesty which distinguished his public service
from that of many who held his same office.
 Juan and Cirila had 14 children, the youngest
being Francisco Mercado, Rizal’s father.
Rizal’s Maternal
Ancestry
Rizal’s Maternal Ancestry
It is said that Dona Teodora’s
family descended from Lakandula,
the last native king of Tondo.
Dona Teodora’s great grandfather
was Eugenio Ursua (of Japanese
ancestry), who married a Filipina
named Benigna.
 Rizal’s Maternal Ancestry
Their daughter, Regina Ochoa, married
Manuel de Quintos, a Filipino-Chinese
lawyer from Pangasinan who graduated
from UST and whose father, of the same
name, had been municipal captain of
Lingayen, Pangasinan.
One of their daughters Brigida, well-
educated and mathematician, married
Lorenzo Alberto Alonso, an engineer and
prominent Spanish-Filipino mestizo of
Baliwag, Bulacan
 Rizal’s Maternal Ancestry
Lorenzo Alberto Alonzo is said to have
been “very Chinese” in appearance. He had
a brother who was a priest, and a sister,
Isabel, who was quite wealthy; he himself
was also well-to-do.
Lorenzo Alberto was municipal captain of
Biñan in 1824. His family was prominent as
shown by the fact that they held several
positions in government.
Brigida and Lorenzo had five children, all
born in Manila but lived in Calamba. One of
them was Teodora, Rizal’s mother.
 Rizal’s Maternal Ancestry
The family used the name Alonzo until in
1850 when they adopted the name
Realonda.
This has been said to be an allusion to royal
blood in the family, but other indications
suggest that it might have been a careless
mistake made in writing by Rosa Realonda,
whose name sometimes appears written as
Redonda.
The Mercado-Rizal
Family
 The Mercado-Rizal Family
 Rizal grew up in a happy family
home.
 The fortunes built through the
labors of Rizal’s parents raised
them to the privileged class, the
principalia.
 The family was one of the
distinguished families in
Calamba.
 The family livelihood were
farming and stock raising, as
well as a dry goods store
managed by Dona Teodora.
 They also operated a small
flour-mill and a home-made ham
press.
 The Mercado-Rizal Family
As evidence of their affluence, Rizal’s
parents were able to build a large stone
house situated near the town church and
bought another one.
They owned a carriage and a private library
(the largest in Calamba) consisted of more
than 1,000 volumes.
The Rizal children were sent to the colleges
in Manila. Rizal himself had an “aya” who
took care of him.
They participated prominently in all social
and religious affairs in the community. They
were gracious hosts to all visitors and
guests.