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Jose
Protacio Rizal
was born
on June 19, 1861 in the province of Laguna, Philippines, to a
family
affluent enough to provide him with formal education in Jesuit-run and
Dominican-run Rizal was affectionate to his family and the women he loved, was diligent in his works, and he was passionate about his people and country. His genius is evidenced by his many talents and skills. At one time or another he practiced or otherwise dabbled as an anthropologist, botanist, businessman, cartographer, dramatist, economist, educator, engineer, essayist, entomologist, ethnologist, farmer, folklorist, geographer, grammarian, historian, horticulturist, humorist, lexicographer, linguist, musician, novelist, painter, physician, poet, philologist, philosopher, polemicist, psychologist, satirist, sculptor, sportsman, sociologist, surveyor, traveler, and zoologist. Above all, he was a patriot, hero, and martyr. Unlike many geniuses, he consecrated his God-given talents and sacrificed his own life for the redemption and welfare of his people. Of Rizal, historian G. Zayde observes: "a man of his heroism and versatility appears but once in the history of any nation". During
Rizal's time, the Philippines was under the rule of Spain. The use in
education of the local Among his other writings are: Annotations to Morga’s 1609 Philippine History; To the Young Women of Malolos; The Indolence of the Filipino; The Philippines A Century Hence; Come se Gobiernan las Filipinas; The Council of the Gods (a Play in 1 Act); Poetry; Letters and Diary. Rizal did not advocate revolution for his country for he believed in peaceful reform, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to a fair trial. For his efforts in this regard, he was exiled more than once. Fatefully, as he was preparing to go to Cuba to help in combating an epidemic of yellow fever, he was arrested and jailed for sedition. On December 30, 1896, in a place called Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park) in Manila, he was executed by firing squad. His "Ultimo Adios," or "Last Farewell," a poem he wrote the night before his death, reiterated both his love for his country and his disgust at the Spanish politicians and priesthood:
"Rizal died an anti-clerical Catholic. The
Spaniards and the priests cheered his execution, but his death sparked the
Philippine Revolution that they had hoped to crush - part of it led by
his wife. Rizal was declared a national hero" (Ronald
Bruce Meyer Inspiration to a people, honor to a nation and pride to a race - this is Jose Rizal's legacy.
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Copyright 2006 Knights of Rizal Scarborough, Ontario, Canada editor and webmaster: junzerrudo@hotmail.com |
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institutions in Manila. He went on to study medicine and
liberal arts at the
University of Madrid in Spain and later at universities in Paris,
Heidelberg, Leipzig and Berlin. While in Europe he started to write novels.
Upon his return to
the Philippines he started to practice medicine. 
language, Tagalog, was suppressed. Rizal
wrote in both Spanish and Tagalog.
In 1887 he published Noli Me
Tangere (Touch Me Not), and in
1891, El Filibusterismo (Subversion).
Both novels not only exposed the oppression of Filipinos by its foreign
rulers, but more so the corruption of Spanish priests and monks who exacted
heavy taxes, stole ancestral lands and sexually
violated the women in their parishes. The Spanish government was agitated
by the criticism and the church was outraged at its exposure.
..Farewell, adored country; I
leave my all with thee, Beloved Philippines, whose soil my feet have trod,
I leave with thee my life's love deep; I go where all
are free; I go where there are no torturers, where the
oppressor's power shall be Destroyed, where
faith kills not, where he who reigns is God..