re

a n ge
e T
l i M rl i n
N o B e
r 8 : d i n
pte s h e
h a b l i
C Pu
Writing of the Noli Me Tangere
• 1884 – Madrid, Rizal began to
write the novel.
• 1885 – Paris, finished the half
of the second half of the novel.
• 1886 (April – June) –
Wilhelmsfeld, wrote the last
few chapters of Noli.
• 1887 (February 21) – Noli was
finally finished and ready for
printing.
 Printing of Noli Me
Tangere
• 1887 (Christmas Day) –
Maximo Viola shocked to
find out that Rizal living in
poverty and sickly due to
lack of proper nourishment.
• Viola agreed to finance the
printing cost of Noli.
• The chapter, “Elias and
Salome” was deleted due to
lack of fund.
 Printing of Noli Me
Tangere
• Printing Press (Berliner
Buchdruckrei – Action Gesselchaft)
charged 300 pesos for 2,000 copies.
• 1888 (March 21) – Noli came off the
press.
• First copies of Noli ( Blumentritt, Dr.
Antonio Regidor, Lopez Jaena,
Mariano Ponce, & Felix R. Hidalgo).
• 1888 ( March 29) – Rizal gave the
galley proof of Noli to Viola.
 Facts about Noli Me Tangere

• Noli Me Tangere (Latin

phrase) which means touch
me not.
• It is taken from the Gospel of
John, Chapter 20 verses 13 to
17.
• Rizal dedicated the novel to
his fatherland (Philippines).
 Facts about Noli Me Tangere
• Au Pays des Moines (The Land of
the Monks) (1899, French) by
Henri Lucas and Ramon
Sempau.
• Friars and Filipinos (1900,
English) by Frank Ernest
Gannett.
• Huwag Akong Salangin Nino
Man (Somebody Touch Me Not)
(1906, Tagalog) by Dr. Pascual H.
Poblete.
 Facts about Noli Me Tangere

• 1900 – “An Eagle Flight”,

early English translation.
• 1912 – “The Social Cancer”.
• 1956 (June 12) – Sen. Claro
M. Recto passed the Republic
Act No. 1425 (Rizal Bill).
• 1961 – Leon Ma. Guerrero
(first Filipino who translated
Noli Me Tangere).
 Facts about Noli Me Tangere
• The Social Cancer (1912, English)
by Charles Derbyshire.
• Noli me Tangere: Filippijnsche
roman (Noli Me Tangere: Filipino
Novel) by Abraham Anthony
Fokker.
• "Noli Me Tangere" : A Complete
English Translation of Noli Me
Tangere from the Spanish of Dr.
Jose Rizal (1956, English) by
Senator Camilo Osías.
 Facts about Noli Me Tangere
• The Lost Eden (1961, English)
by Leon Ma. Guerrero.
• Noli Me Tangere (1997, English)
by Maria Soledad Locsin.
• Noli Me Tangere (1997,
Tagalog) by Virgilio Almario.
• Noli Me Tangere (2006, English)
by Harold Augenbraum.
Published by Penguin Classics.
Noli Me Tangere – The Characters
 Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin

• Ibarra or Crisóstomo, is the protagonist in the

story, son of a Filipino businessman, Don
Rafael Ibarra.
• Studied in Europe for seven years.
• María Clara's fiancé.
• Several sources claim that Ibarra is also Rizal's
reflection.
 María Clara de los Santos y Alba

• Commonly referred to as María Clara

• Ibarra's fiancée.
• She was raised by Capitán Tiago, San Diego's
cabeza de barangay.
• An illegitimate daughter of Father Dámaso,
former parish curate, of the town, and Doña Pía
Alba, wife of Capitán Tiago.
• The character of María Clara was patterned after
Leonor Rivera, Rizal's first cousin and childhood
sweetheart.
 Don Santiago de los Santos
• known by his nickname Tiago, with political title Capitán
Tiago.
• Filipino businessman and the cabeza de barangay or head
of barangay of the town of San Diego.
• Known father of María Clara
• Richest man in the region of Binondo and he possessed real
properties in Pampanga and Laguna de Bay.
• Good Catholic, friend of the Spanish government and was
considered as a Spanish by colonialists.
• Domestic helper of a Dominican friar.
• Married Pía Alba from Santa Cruz.
 Dámaso Verdolagas
• Padre Dámaso is a Franciscan friar and
the former parish curate of San Diego.
• Real father of María Clara
• An enemy of Crisóstomo's father, Rafael
Ibarra.
• Best known as a notorious character
who speaks with harsh words and has
been a cruel priest.
 Elías
• Ibarra's mysterious friend and ally.
• Elías made his first appearance as a
pilot during a picnic of Ibarra and María
Clara and her friends.
• He wants to revolutionize the country
and to be freed from Spanish
oppression.
• Rizal’s alter ego.
 Don Anastacio
• known by his Filipinized name Pilosopo Tasyo
• Seeking for reforms from the government, he
expresses his ideals in paper written in a
cryptographic alphabet.
• Educated inhabitants of San Diego labeled him
as Filosofo Tacio (Tacio the Sage) while others
called him as Tacio el Loco (Insane Tacio) due
to his exceptional talent for reasoning.
• Known as Paciano in real life.
 Doña Victorina de los Reyes de
Espadaña
• Commonly known as Doña Victorina, is
an ambitious Filipina who classifies
herself as a Spanish and mimics
Spanish ladies by putting on heavy
make up.
• Wife of Don Tiburcio de Espadaña, an
official of the customs bureau and a
fake doctor.
 Sisa, Crispín, and Basilio
• Narcisa or Sisa is the deranged mother of
Basilio and Crispín. Described as beautiful and
young, although she loves her children very
much, she can not protect them from the
beatings of her husband, Pedro.
• Crispín is Sisa's 7-year-old son. An altar boy, he
was unjustly accused of stealing money from
the church. After failing to force Crispín to
return the money he allegedly stole, Father
Salví and the head sacristan killed him (Basilio’s
dream)
• Basilio is Sisa's 10-year-old son.
• An acolyte tasked to ring the church
bells for the Angelus, he faced the
dread of losing his younger brother and
the descent of his mother into insanity.
• At the end of the novel, Elías wished
Basilio to bury him by burning in
exchange of chest of gold located on
his death ground.
• Padre Hernando de la Sibyla – a
Dominican friar. He is described as
short and has fair skin. He is instructed
by an old priest in his order to watch
Crisóstomo Ibarra.

• Padre Bernardo Salví – the Franciscan

curate of San Diego, secretly harboring
lust for María Clara. He is described to
be very thin and sickly.
• El Alférez or Alperes – chief of the Guardia
Civil. Mortal enemy of the priests for power
in San Diego and husband of Doña
Consolacion.
• Doña Consolacíon – wife of the Alférez,
nicknamed as la musa de los guardias civiles
(The muse of the Civil Guards) or la Alféreza,
was a former laundrywoman who passes
herself as a Peninsular; best remembered
for her abusive treatment of Sisa.
• Don Tiburcio de Espadaña – Spanish Quack
Doctor who is limp and submissive to his
wife, Doña Victorina.
• Teniente Guevara - a close friend of
Don Rafael Ibarra. He reveals to
Crisóstomo how Don Rafael Ibarra's
death came about.
• Alfonso Linares – A distant nephew of
Tiburcio de Espanada, that would be
fiancé of María Clara. Although he
presented himself as a practitioner of
law, it was later revealed that he, just
like Don Tiburcio, is a fraud. He later
died due to given medications of Don
Tiburcio.
• Tía Isabel - Capitán Tiago's cousin, who
raised Maria Clara.
• Gobernador Heneral – Unnamed
person in the novel, he is the most
powerful official in the Philippines. He
has great disdain for the friars and
corrupt officials, and sympathizes with
Ibarra.
• Don Filipo Lino – vice mayor of the
town of San Diego, leader of the
liberals.
• Padre Manuel Martín - he is the linguist
curate of a nearby town who delivers
the sermon during San Diego's fiesta.
• Don Rafael Ibarra - father of Crisóstomo
Ibarra. Though he is the richest man in
San Diego, he is also the most virtuous
and generous.
• Dona Pía Alba - wife of Capitan Tiago
and mother of María Clara, she died
giving birth to her daughter. In reality,
she was raped by Dámaso so she could
bear a child.
• Don Pedro Eibarramendia - the great-
grandfather of Crisóstomo Ibarra who came
from the Basque area of Spain. He started
the misfortunes of Elias' family. His
descendants abbreviated their surname to
Ibarra. He died of unknown reasons, but
was seen as a decaying corpse on a Balite
Tree.
• Don Saturnino Ibarra - the son of Don
Pedro, father of Don Rafael and grandfather
of Crisóstomo Ibarra. He was the one who
developed the town of San Diego. He was
described as a cruel man but was very
clever.
• Salomé - Elías' sweetheart.
• She lives in a little house by the lake,
and though Elías would like to marry
her, he tells her that it would do her or
their children no good to be related to
a fugitive like himself.
• Sinang - Maria Clara's friend. Because
Crisóstomo Ibarra offered half of the
school he was building to Sinang, he
gained Capitan Basilio's support.
• Iday, Andeng and Victoria - Maria
Clara's other friends.
• Capitán Basilio - Sinang's father, leader
of the conservatives.
• Pedro – the abusive husband of Sisa
who loves cockfighting.
• Tandáng Pablo – The leader of the
tulisanes (bandits), whose family was
destroyed because of the Spaniards.
• El hombre amarillo (apparently means
"yellowish person", named as Taong Madilaw)
- One of Crisostomo Ibarra's would-be
assassins. He is not named in the novel, and
only described as such. In the novel, he carved
the cornerstone for Ibarra's school. Instead of
killing Ibarra, he was killed by his cornerstone.
• Lucas - the brother of the taong madilaw. He
planned a revolution against the government
with Ibarra as the leader after he was turned
down by Ibarra. He was said to have a scar on
his left cheek. He would later be killed by the
Sakristan Mayor.
• Bruno and Tarsilo – a pair of brothers
whose father was killed by the
Spaniards.
• Ñor Juan (Ñol Juan) - appointed as
foreman of the school to be built by
Ibarra
• Capitana Tika - Sinang's mother and
wife of Capitan Basilio.
• Albino - a former seminarian who joined
the picnic with Ibarra and María Clara.
Was later captured during the
revolution.
• Capitana María Elena - a nationalist
woman who defends Ibarra of the
memory of his father.
• Capitán Tinong and Capitán Valentín -
other known people from the town of
San Diego.
• Sacristán Mayor - The one who
governs the altar boys and killed Crispín
for his accusation.