Jose Rizal (1861–1896) was a man of incredible intellectual

power, with amazing artistic talent as well. He excelled at

anything that he put his mind to—medicine, poetry, sketching,
architecture, sociology... the list seems nearly endless.

Thus, Rizal's martyrdom by the Spanish colonial authorities,

while he was still quite young, was a huge loss to the Philippines,
and to the world at large.

Today, the people of the Philippines honor him as their national

hero.

Early Life

On June 19, 1861, Francisco Rizal Mercado and Teodora Alonzo y Quintos welcomed
their seventh child into the world at Calamba, Laguna. They named the boy Jose
Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda.

The Mercado family were wealthy farmers who rented land from the Dominican
religious order. Descendants of a Chinese immigrant named Domingo Lam-co, they
changed their name to Mercado ("market") under the pressure of anti-Chinese feeling
amongst the Spanish colonizers.

From an early age, Jose Rizal Mercado showed a precocious intellect. He learned the
alphabet from his mother at the age of three and could read and write at age five.

Education

Jose Rizal Mercado attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, graduating at the age of
16 with highest honors. He took a post-graduate course there in land surveying.

Rizal Mercado completed his surveyor's training in 1877, and passed the licensing exam
in May 1878, but could not receive a license to practice because he was only 17 years
old. (He was granted a license in 1881 when he reached the age of majority.)

In 1878, the young man also enrolled in the University of Santo Tomas as a medical
student. He later quit the school, alleging discrimination against Filipino students by
the Dominican professors.

In Madrid

In May of 1882, Jose Rizal got on a ship to Spain without informing his parents of his
intentions. He enrolled at the Universidad Central de Madrid. In June of 1884, he
received his medical degree at the age of 23; the following year, he also graduated from
the Philosophy and Letters department.
blindness, Rizal next went to the University of Paris and then the University of
Heidelberg to complete further study in the field of ophthalmology. At Heidelberg, he
studied under the famed professor Otto Becker. Rizal finished his second doctorate at
Heidelberg in 1887.

Rizal's Life in Europe

Jose Rizal lived in Europe for 10 years. During that time, he picked up a number of
languages; in fact, he could converse in more than 10 different tongues.

While in Europe, the young Filipino impressed everyone who met him with his charm,
his intelligence, and his mastery of an incredible range of different fields of study.

Rizal excelled at martial arts, fencing, sculpture, painting, teaching, anthropology, and
journalism, among other things.

During his European sojourn, he also began to write novels. Rizal finished his first
book, Noli Me Tangere, while living in Wilhemsfeld with the Reverend Karl Ullmer.

Novels and Other Works

Rizal wrote Noli Me Tangere in Spanish; it was published in 1887 in Berlin. The novel
is a scathing indictment of the Catholic Church and Spanish colonial rule in the
Philippines.

This book cemented Jose Rizal's position on the Spanish colonial government's list of
troublemakers. When Rizal returned home for a visit, he received a summons from the
Governor General and had to defend himself from charges of disseminating subversive
ideas.

Although the Spanish governor accepted Rizal's explanations, the Catholic Church was
less willing to forgive. In 1891, Rizal published a sequel, titled El Filibusterismo.

Program of Reforms

Both in his novels and in newspaper editorials, Jose Rizal called for a number of
reforms of the Spanish colonial system in the Philippines.

He advocated freedom of speech and assembly, equal rights before the law for
Filipinos, and Filipino priests in place of the often-corrupt Spanish churchmen. In
addition, Rizal called for the Philippines to become a province of Spain, with
representation in the Spanish legislature (the Cortes Generales).

Rizal never called for independence for the Philippines. Nonetheless, the colonial
government considered him a dangerous radical and declared him an enemy of the
state.
Exile and Courtship

In 1892, Rizal returned to the Philippines. He was almost immediately accused of being
involved in the brewing rebellion and was exiled to Dapitan City, on the island of
Mindanao. Rizal would stay there for four years, teaching school and encouraging
agricultural reforms.

During that same period, the people of the Philippines grew more eager to revolt
against the Spanish colonial presence. Inspired in part by Rizal's organization, La Liga,
rebel leaders like Andres Bonifacio began to press for military action against the
Spanish regime.

In Dapitan, Rizal met and fell in love with Josephine Bracken, who brought her
stepfather to him for a cataract operation. The couple applied for a marriage license but
were denied by the Church (which had excommunicated Rizal).

Trial and Execution

The Philippine Revolution broke out in 1896. Rizal denounced the violence and
received permission to travel to Cuba in order to tend victims of yellow fever in
exchange for his freedom. Bonifacio and two associates sneaked aboard the ship to
Cuba before it left the Philippines, trying to convince Rizal to escape with them, but
Rizal refused.

He was arrested by the Spanish on the way, taken to Barcelona, and then extradited to
Manila for trial. Jose Rizal was tried by court-martial, charged with conspiracy,
sedition, and rebellion.

Despite a lack of any evidence of his complicity in the Revolution, Rizal was convicted
on all counts and given the death sentence.

He was allowed to marry Josephine two hours before his execution by firing squad on
December 30, 1896. Jose Rizal was just 35 years old.

Jose Rizal's Legacy

Jose Rizal is remembered today throughout the Philippines for his brilliance, his
courage, his peaceful resistance to tyranny, and his compassion. Filipino
schoolchildren study his final literary work, a poem called Mi Ultimo Adios ("My Last
Goodbye"), as well as his two famous novels.

Spurred on by Rizal's martyrdom, the Philippine Revolution continued until 1898.

With assistance from the United States, the Philippine archipelago was able to defeat
the Spanish army. The Philippines declared its independence from Spain on June 12,
1898. It was the first democratic republic in Asia.