LIFE, WORKS AND

WRITINGS OF RIZAL
Ariz R. Fidel
His real name

His complete name was Dr. José Protasio Rizal

Mercado y Alonso Realonda. 
Many wonder why he used “Rizal” while his father
was Francisco Mercado.
He should have been Jose Mercado right?
So why did Rizal’s surname become Rizal instead
of Mercado?
Some of the explanations with this are:
Jose’s real last name, Mercado, during those times was a
hostile name, targeted by the Spaniards. He changed his
surname to protect his identity. So he just used his middle
name, Rizal, instead, whichf was considered
as illustrado during the Spanish time and entails the
benefits a Spaniard can get.
Second, there was Spanish law to change the last name
of Filipinos those times. Mercado sounded a common
name and there were lots of people having that surname
already who were not really relatives of Rizal.
 RIZAL’S FAMILY
• Rizal’s father is Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y
Alejandro (1818–1898) and his mother is Teodora
Morales Alonzo Realonda y Quintos (1826–1911).
• Rizal’s siblings were Saturnina (Neneng) (1850–1913),
Paciano (1851–1930), Narcisa (Sisa) (1852–1939),
Olympia (Ypia) (1855–1887), Lucia (1857–1919), María
(Biang) (1859–1945), Concepcion (1862–1865), Josefa
(Panggoy) (1865–1945), Trinidad (1868–1951) and
Soledad (Concha) (1870–1929).
• Rizal was a 5th-generation patrilineal descendant of
Domingo Lam-co, a Chinese immigrant entrepreneur
who sailed to the Philippines from Jinjiang, Guangzhou
in the mid-17th century.
 Bits of facts about the genius Jose Rizal

- Dr. Jose Rizal was a philosopher, painter, poet,

architect, artists, businessman, cartoonist,
educator, economist, ethnologist, scientific
farmer, historian,inventor, journalist,
linguist, musician, mythologist, nationalist,
naturalist, novelist, opthalmic surgeon,
propagandist, psychologist, scientist, sculptor,
sociologist,swordsman, , theologian hmm seems
never-ending.
- In short Rizal was a versatile genius.
- A Renaissance man
- A man of exceptional intelligence and gifted
with extraordinary talents.
Amazing Facts about Jose Rizal!

Jose Rizal has mastered 22 languages. These include

Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, English, French, German,
Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Malayan,
Portuguese, Russian, Sanskrit, Spanish, Tagalog, and
other native dialects.
How many do you speak?
1.) Rizal was a Filipino nationalist and one of the few recognized
Renaissance men in the world.

2.) Documented studies show him to be a polymath with the ability

to master various skills and subjects.

3.) This Renaissance man was an ophthalmologist, novelist, sculptor,

painter, educator, farmer, historian, playwright and journalist.

4.) Besides poetry and creative writing, he dabbled, with varying

degrees of expertise, in architecture, cartography, economics,
ethnology, anthropology, sociology, dramatics, martial arts, fencing
and pistol shooting.
5.) This polymath’s complete name is Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso
Realonda. He was born on June 19, 1861 in Calamba, Laguna, Philippines.

6.) Jose Rizal was executed by firing squad on December 30, 1896 in
Bagumbayan, Manila. Bagumbayan is now known as Luneta or Rizal Park.

7.) The anniversary of his death is commemorated as a Philippine holiday

known as Rizal’s Day.

8.) This Renaissance man was the most prominent advocate for reforms in
the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era.

9.) Rizal’s 1896 military trial and execution made him a martyr of the
Philippine Revolution.
10.) At age two (2), this polymath can already read and write. Jose
Rizal was the seventh of eleven children born to a wealthy family in
Calamba, Laguna.

11.) He finished is Bachelor of Arts at Ateneo Municipal de Manila.

12.) Rizal enrolled in Medicine and Philosophy and Letters at the

University of Santo Tomas or UST - the oldest university in the
Philippines and one of the oldest in the world.

13.) He completed his degree of Licentiate in Medicine at the

Universidad Central de Madrid in Spain.

14.) Rizal also studied at the University of Paris in France and earned
his second doctorate at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.
15.) Jose Rizal founded the La Liga Filipina, a civic organization that
subsequently gave birth to the Katipunan led by Andres Bonifacio
and Emilio Jacinto.

16.) Like Gandhi, Rizal was a proponent of institutional reforms by

peaceful means rather than by violent revolution.
17.) Jose’s father Francisco adopted the surname “Rizal” (originally
Ricial, the green of young growth or green fields), which was
suggested to him by a provincial governor.
18.) Upon enrolling at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, José dropped
the last three names that make up his full name, at the advice of his
brother, Paciano Rizal Mercado, and the Rizal Mercado family, thus
rendering his name as "José Protasio Rizal".
19. This Renaissance man first studied under the tutelage of
Justiniano Aquino Cruz in Biñan, Laguna. He graduated as one of the
nine students in his class declared sobresaliente or outstanding in
Ateneo.
20.) He continued studying at Ateneo Municipal de Manila and
obtained a land surveyor and assessor’s degree, and at the same time
at the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters where he studied Philosophy
and Letters.
21.) Rizal studied medicine specializing in ophthalmology at the UST
Faculty of Medicine and Surgery but did not complete the program
claiming discrimination made by the Spanish Dominican friars against
the native students.
22.) In Berlin he was inducted as a member of the Berlin Ethnological
Society and the Berlin Anthropological Society under the patronage of
the famous pathologist Rudolf Virchow.
23.) At age 25, Rizal completed in 1887 his eye specialization under
the renowned professor, Otto Becker in Heidelberg.
24.) A small version of Rizal Park with Rizal’s Bronze statue was built
in Wilhelmsfeld, Germany. The street where Rizal lived was also
renamed after him.
25.) A sandstone fountain also stands in Pastor Ullmer’s house
garden where Rizal lived in Wilhelmsfeld.
38.) This Renaissance man from the Philippines was also a
Freemason, joining Acacia Lodge No. 9 during his time in Spain and
becoming a Master Mason in 1884.
26.) This Filipino polymath’s life is one of the most documented of
the 19  century due to the vast and extensive records written by and
th
about him.
27.) During December, 1891 to June, 1892, Dr. José Rizal lived with
his family in Number 2 of Rednaxela Terrace, 5 D'Aguilar Street,
Central district, Hong Kong Island. This house was also used as his
ophthalmologist clinic from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
28.) Nine women with romantic involvement to Rizal were
identified, they were:
 Gertrude Becket of Chalcot Crescent (London), England
 Nelly Bousted of the English and Iberian merchant family, a
wealthy and high-minded woman
 Usui Seiko last descendant of a noble Japanese family
 Segunda Katigbak, a Filipina
 Leonora Rivera, his first cousin -eight-year romantic
relationship
 Leonor Valenzuela, a Filipina
 Consuelo Ortiga y Rey, Spanish
 Suzanna Jacoby, a Belgian
 Josephine Bracken, an Irish
29.) In Dapitan, Rizal built a school, a hospital and a water supply
system, and taught and engaged in farming and horticulture.
30.) One Muslim student of Rizal in Dapitan became a Datu, and
another, José Aseniero became Governor of Zamboanga.
31.) “Mi Retiro” was a poem wrote by Rizal as a gift to his mother on
her birth anniversary.
32.) Rizal volunteered to serve in Cuba to minister to victims of
yellow fever. Rizal was arrested en route to Cuba, imprisoned in
Barcelona, and sent back to Manila to stand trial.
33.) Rizal was tried before a court-martial for rebellion, sedition, and
conspiracy. He was convicted on all three charges and sentenced to
death.
34.) His poem ‘Mi Ultimo Adios’ or Farewell (Huling Paalam) was
hidden in an alcohol stove and later handed to his family.
35.) Exhumation of Rizal’s remains in August, 1898 revealed he had
been un-coffined. His burial was not on sanctified ground.
36.) In his letter to his family he wrote: "Treat our aged parents as
you would wish to be treated...Love them greatly in memory of
me...December 30, 1896."
37.) In his final letter, to Blumentritt - Tomorrow at 7, I shall be shot;
but I am innocent of the crime of rebellion. I am going to die with a
tranquil conscience.
38) Rizal’s pen names are Dimasalang and Laonglaan
39.) Moments before his execution by a firing squad of native
infantry of the Spanish Army, backed by an insurance force of
Spanish troops, the Spanish surgeon general requested to take his
pulse; it was normal.
40.) This Asian Renaissance man’s last words were those of Jesus
Christ: "consummatum est",--it is finished.
41.) Rizal was secretly buried in Paco Cemetery in Manila with no
identification on his grave.
42.) His sister Narcisa toured all possible gravesites and found freshly
turned earth at the cemetery with guards posted at the gate.
Assuming this could be the most likely spot, there never having any
ground burials, and she made a gift to the caretaker to mark the site
"RPJ", Rizal's initials in reverse.
43.) The monument of Rizal in Rizal Park, Manila was designed by
the Swiss Richard Kissling, the creator of the famed William Tell
sculpture.
44.) The statue carries the inscription "I want to show to those who
deprive people the right to love of country, that when we know how
to sacrifice ourselves for our duties and convictions, death does not
matter if one dies for those one loves – for his country and for
others dear to him."
45.) After Rizal’s execution, Josephine Bracken joined the
revolutionary forces in Cavite.
46.) Monuments in his honor were erected in Madrid, Spain;
Wilhelmsfeld, Germany; Jinjiang, Fujian, China; Chicago, Cherry Hill
Township, San Diego, Seattle, U.S.A.; Mexico City, Mexico; Lima, Peru;
Litomerice, Czech Republic; and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
47.) Several titles were bestowed on him: "the First Filipino", "Greatest
Man of the Brown Race," among others.
48.) The Order of the Knights of Rizal, a civic and patriotic organization,
boasts of dozens of chapters all over the globe.
49.) There are some remote-area religious sects who claim this great
polymath as a sublimation of Christ.
50.) Several films were produced narrating Rizal's life. The most
successful was Jose Rizal, produced by GMA Films and released in 1998.
Cesar Montano played the title role.
51.) This Renaissance man also appeared in the 1999 video game Medal
of Honor as a secret character in multiplayer, alongside other historical
figures such as William Shakespeare and Winston Churchill.
52.) USS Rizal (DD–174) was a Wickes class destroyer in the
United States Navy following World War I. She was named for the
Filipino polymath - Jose Rizal, the Philippine national hero.

53.) A province, numerous municipalities, barangays, streets,

schools and other institutions were named Rizal in honor of this
great Filipino Renaissance man and polymath.
THANK YOU.