Jose Rizal

Early Childhoo

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• JOSÉ PROTACIO RIZAL MERCADO Y ALONSO REALONDA was born on June 19, 1861, in the town of Calamba, Laguna.

• He was baptized JOSE RIZAL MERCADO at the Catholic of Calamba by the parish priest Rev. Fr. Rufino Collantes with Rev. Fr. Pedro Casañas as the sponsor.

• He was the seventh child in a family of 11 children Both his parents were educated and belonged to distinguished families.

Francisco Mercado

teodora alonso

The children of Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso

• SATURNINA RIZAL (1850-1913)Eldest child of the Rizal-Alonzo marriage. Married Manuel Timoteo Hidalgo of Tanauan, Batangas.

• PACIANO RIZAL (1851-1930)Only brother of Jose Rizal and the second child. Studied at San Jose College in Manila; became a farmer and later a general of the Philippine Revolution.

• NARCISA RIZAL (1852-1939) The third child. married Antonio Lopez at Morong, Rizal; a teacher and musician.

• OLYMPIA RIZAL (1855-1887)The fourth child. Married Silvestre Ubaldo; died in 1887 from childbirth.

• LUCIA RIZAL (1857-1919)The fifth child. Married MatrianoHerbosa.

• MARIA RIZAL (1859-1945)The sixth child. Married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan, Laguna.

• JOSE RIZAL (1861-1896)The second son and the seventh child. He was executed by the Spaniards on December 30,1896.

• CONCEPCION RIZAL (1862-1865)The eight child. Died at the age of three.

• JOSEFA RIZAL (1865-1945)The ninth child. An epileptic, died a spinster.

• TRINIDAD RIZAL (1868-1951)The tenth child. Died a spinster and the last of the family to die.

• SOLEDAD RIZAL (1870-1929)The youngest child married Pantaleon Quintero.

• Jose Rizal’s first teacher was his mother, who had taught him how to read and pray and who had encouraged him to write poetry. Later, private tutors taught the young Rizal Spanish and Latin, before he was sent to a school in Biñan.

• Rizal first studied under Justiniano Aquino Cruz in Biñan, Laguna before he was sent to Manila. As to his father's request, he took the entrance examination in Colegio de San Juan de Letran and studied there for almost three months. The Dominican friars asked him to transfer to another school due to his radical and bold questions.

Jose Rizal’s Education

• When he was 11 years old, Rizal entered the Ateneo Municipal de Manila. He earned excellent marks in subjects like philosophy, physics, chemistry, and natural history. At this school, he read novels; wrote prize-winning poetry (and even a melodrama—“Junto al Pasig”); and practiced drawing, painting, and clay modeling, all of which remained lifelong interests for him.

• Rizal eventually earned a land surveyor’s and assessor’s degree from the Ateneo Municipal while taking up Philosophy and Letters at the University of Santo Tomas. Upon learning that his mother was going blind, Rizal opted to study ophthalmology at the UST School of Medicine and Surgery. He, however, was not able to complete the course because “he became politically isolated by adversaries among the faculty and clergy who demanded that he assimilate to their system.”

• Without his parents' knowledge and consent, but secretly supported by his brother Paciano, he traveled alone to Madrid, Spain in May 1882 and studied medicine at the Universidad Central de Madrid where he earned the degree, Licentiate in Medicine. Also, he also attended medical lectures at the University of Paris and the University of Heidelberg. 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.

• Rizal at 11, a student at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila.

• José Rizal as a student at the University of Santo Tomas.

• José was designed by nature to be an artist. This he revealed before he was five years of age, for without any assistance from others he began to draw with his pencil and to mould in wax or clay any object he saw about him. Fortunately, his mother, father, and uncles recognized this unusual talent and gave him every encouragement.

Sketches by Rizal

• Jose Rizal also owned a pony and used it to have long rides into the surrounding country which was rich in scenery. He also took long walks together with his big black dog named Usman. He also loved to play with the doves in his neighborhood. He learned about the myths and legends in Laguna after sleeping through the nut in a little straw hut used by Laguna farmers during the harvest season. Rizal was also good in hand tricks which he perfected to amaze the simple folk and performed magic lantern exhibitions.

• The little boy spent also much of his time in the church, which was conveniently near, but when the mother suggested that this might be an indication of religious inclination, his prompt response was that he liked to watch the people.

• Even in his childhood, Rizal already knew how to respect the rights of others and requested his elders to reason with him rather than get mad at him for small offenses. He became a welcome companion for adults even at his young age since he respected their moods and was never a hindrance to their activities.

• Three uncles who were brothers of his mother also had much influence on the early childhood of Jose Rizal. The youngest uncle named Jose, took care of teaching regular lessons to Rizal. His huge uncle Manuel developed his physique until he had a body of silk and steel and no longer a skinny and sickly boy. The last uncle, Gregorio instilled in the mind of Rizal that it was not easy to obtain something until you put effort into it.

• The childhood of Jose Rizal can be characterized by his desire to learn, even frequenting the church nearby his home to watch and observe people but not to be religiously inclined. Jose Rizal was not a physically blessed or strong child however, he had a strong will guided and taught by his mother, his first teacher. He learned almost without the use of books. His brilliance was the most distinguished character of  the young Jose Rizal.

• In all, his mother was the one who laid the foundation of his great knowledge achieved in such a short time.

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