Rizal in Summary

DR. JOSE PROTACIO MERCADO RIZAL ALONZO Y REALONDA
Meaning of names:
Doctor - completed his medical course in Spain and was conferred the degree of Licentiate in Medicine by the Universidad Central de Madrid.
Jose - was chosen by his mother who was a devotee of the Christian saint San Jose (St. Joseph)
Protacio- from Gervacio P. which come from a Christian calendar
Mercado - adopted in 1731 by Domigo Lamco (the paternal great-great-grandfather of Jose Rizal) which the Spanish term mercado means ‘market’ in English
Rizal - from the word ‘Ricial’ in Spanish means a field where wheat, cut while stillgreen, sprouts again
Alonzo - old surname of his mother Y - and
Realonda- it was used by Doña Teodora from the surname of her godmother based on the culture by that time.

June 19, 1861 - moonlit of Wednesday between eleven and midnight Jose Rizal was born in the lakeshore town of Calamba, Laguna.
June 22, 1861 - aged three days old, Rizal was baptized in the Catholic church.
Father Rufino Collantes - a Batangueño, the parish priest who baptized Rizal.
Father Pedro Casanas - Rizal’s godfather, native of Calamba and close friend of the Rizal family.
Lieutenant-General Jose Lemery - the governor general of the Philippines when Rizal was born.
RIZAL’S PARENTS
Don Francisco Mercado (1818-1898)
-born in Biñan, Laguna on May 11, 1818-studied Latin and Philosophy at the College of San Jose in Manila-became a tenant-farmer of the Dominican-owned hacienda-a hardy and independent-minded man, who talked less and worked more, and was strong in body and valiant in spirit-died in Manila on January 5, 1898 at the age of 80-Rizal affectionately called him “a model of fathers”

Doña Teodora Alonso Realonda (1826-1911)
-born in Manila on November 8, 1826-educated at the College of Santa Rosa, a well-known college for girls in the city-a remarkable woman, possessing refined culture, literary talent, business ability, and the fortitude of Spartan women-is a woman of more than ordinary culture: she knows literature and speaks Spanish (according to Rizal)-died in Manila on August 16, 1911 at the age of 85.

The Rizal children
Saturnina (1850-1913) - oldest of the Rizal children-nicknamed Neneng-married Manuel T. Hidalgo of Tanawan, Batangas.
Paciano (1851-1930) - older brother and confident of Jose Rizal-was a second father to Rizal-immortalized him in Rizal’s first novel Noli Me Tangere as the wise Pilosopo Tasio-Rizal regarded him as the “most noble of Filipinos”-became a combat general in the Philippine Revolution-died on April 13, 1930, an old bachelor aged 79-had two children by his mistress (Severina Decena)—a boy and a girl.
Narcisa (1852-1939) - her pet name was Sisa-married to Antonio Lopez (nephew of Father Leoncio Lopez), a school teacher of Morong.
Olimpia (1855-1887) - Ypia was her pet name-married Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph operator from Manila.
Lucia (1857-1919) - married to Mariano Herbosa of Calamba, who was a nephew of Father Casanas-Herbosa died of cholera in 1889 and was denied Christian burial because he was a brother-in-law of Dr. Rizal.
Maria (1859-1945) - Biang was her nickname-married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan, Laguna.
Jose (1861-1896) - the greatest Filipino hero and peerless genius-nickname was Pepe-lived with Josephine Bracken, Irish girl from Hong Kong-had a son but this baby-boy died a few hours after birth; Rizal named him “Francisco” after his father and buried himin Dapitan.
Concepcion (1862-1865) - her pet name was Concha-died of sickness at the age of 3-her death was Rizal’s first sorrow in life.
Josefa (1865-1945) - her pet name was Panggoy-died an old maid at the age of 8010.
Trinidad (1868-1951) - Trining was her pet name-she died also an old maid in 1951 aged 83.
Soledad (1870-1929) - youngest of the Rizal children-her pet name was Choleng-married Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba

* Rizal always called her sisters Doña or Señora (if married) and Señorita (if single) * Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso Realonda married on June 28, 1848, after which they settleddown in Calamba * The real surname of the Rizal family was Mercado, which was adopted in 1731 by Domingo Lamco (thepaternal great-great grandfather of Jose Rizal), who was a full blooded Chinese) * Rizal’s family acquired a second surname—Rizal—which was given by a Spanish alcalde mayor (provincial governor) of Laguna, who was a family friend.

Calamba at the time of Rizal’s Birth
Calamba was blessed with beautiful sceneries which served as inspiration for Rizal to hone his poetic and artistic abilities.
Calamba at Rizal’s time was an agricultural town. Due to its fertile soil and favorable climate, the Calambeños were able to raise and harvest different kinds of crops but specialize in sugar.
The town was virtually owned by the Dominican friars. As a result, those who served as tenants had a difficult life. However their life was considerably better than those living in other towns in Laguna at that time.
The hardships suffered by the tenants from the guardia civil and friars had instilled in Rizal’s young mind hatred of oppression and exploitation of the weak by the strong.

Childhood Days and Memories
Because of the happy and comfortable life Rizal had, most of his memories in his childhood days were pleasant. In him, he always treasured the care of his parents because of his poor health.
He’ll never forget when his family stayed in their garden to exchange stories. Different types of stories always interest the young Rizal.
Father Leoncio Lopez, the parish priest of Calamba was responsible for his religious upbringing. At the age of three, he learned to pray and read the bible.
At the age of four, he experienced his first great sorrow. His younger sister Cencepcion, whom she fondly call Concha died.

Rizal was a good observer ever since he was a child, taking noteof every detail of what he saw and experienced, especially the violence and unjust treatment Guardia Civil and Gobernadorcilloto his fellow Clambeños.
Jose had a pony and used to take long rides through all the surrounding country, so rich in picturesque scenery.
Besides these horseback expeditions were excursions afoot; on the latter his companion was his big black dog, Usman.
Story of the Moth and the Flame
The story of the moth and the flame was told to Rizal by his mother on a night when her mother was teaching him how to read a book entitled El Amigos de los Niños.
His mother grew impatient of his poor reading and lack of focus and always straying his eyes on the flame of the lamp and the cheerful moths surrounding it. Knowing his interest to stories his mother decided to stop teaching him and instead read him an interesting story.
Upon hearing the story, it gave a deep impression on Rizal.
However, it’s not the story’s moral that truly struck him, he actually envied the moths and their fate and considered that the light was so fine a thing that it was worth dying for.
Important lessons learned in his childhood 1. From the story of the moth and the flame, he realized the sweetness of dying in search of the light. Rizal came to realize that one has to sacrifice and to suffer the consequences of one’s action for the attainment of a goal. 2. From the death of his favorite little sister, It was the first of many grieves, but he quickly realized that life is a constant struggle and he learned to meet disappointments and sorrows with the tears in the heart and a smile on the lips.

Early Demonstration of Inborn Talents
As a young boy, Rizal showed several signs that he was naturally gifted with exceptional talent and intellect
With his mother, Doña Teodora, as his first teacher, he was able to hone his inborn skills especially in reading which he showed great interest. The young Rizal also showed an aptitude in sketching, painting, sculpture, and literature Sometimes Jose would draw a bird flying without lifting pencil from the paper till the picture was finished. At other times it would be a horse running or a dog in chase.
Early Demonstration of Inborn Talents
Clay at first, then wax, was his favorite play material. From these he modeled birds and butterflies that came ever nearer to the originals in nature. Sleight-of-hand tricks were a favorite amusement, and he developed a dexterity which mystified the simple folk of the country At the age of eight, he was able to write his first poem entitled Sa aking Kababata, which did not only show his talents in writing but also his sense of nationalism. Here he showed his love for his own language and the awareness that his fellowmen had their own language. Through the poem he is encouraging his fellow children to also love their language
First taste of Injustice
In his young eyes, Rizal already witness the unjust and brutal treatments of the Spaniards to his town mates .However what truly opened his eyes to this injustices was the arrest and the imprisonment of his mother due to the alleged complicity in the attempted murder of his uncle’s wife. Doña Teodora was made to walk a distance of fifty kilometers from Calamba to Santa Cruz, Laguna and was imprisoned by two and one-half years. She was freed by Governor-General Izquierdo, who was charmed of the graceful dancing of Rizal’s youngest sister Soledad Another incident that greatly influenced his life was the martyrdom of Gomburza which inspired him to redeem the oppressed Filipinos.
Preparation for Formal Schooling
Most of his early studies where initiated by his mother. It was DoñaTeodora who was responsible that Rizal was able to learn the prayers andthe alphabet at the age of three, and to enhance his skills at poetry sheencourage Rizal to write versesThree uncles, brothers of the mother, concerned themselves with theintellectual, artistic and physical training of this promising nephew.
Jose, the youngest, a teacher, looked after his regular lessons
Manuel, developed the physique of the youngster, until he had a supple body of silk and steel and was no longer a sickly lad
Gregorio, he taught him also the value of rapidity in work, to think for himself, and to observe carefully and to picture what he saw. He in stilled in the mind of young Rizal that it was not the world's way that anything worth having should come without effort.
Preparation for Formal Schooling
Later on his mother realized Rizal needed a private tutor to teach him at home. His private tutors were: Maestro Celestino, Maestro Lucas Padua, and Maestro Leon Monroy Rizal like any other son of the principalia class was trained to be a middle class intellectual or illustrado.His training as an illustrado could explain why he didn’t have any real social consciousness.
Childhood inspirations to his later works
As a child Rizal spent most of his time at the church where he enjoys watching people. Through his observation he was able to create the true-to-life types of the characters in "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo³The emphasis on the oppressiveness of the Guardia Civil and the friars in his novels can be taken in his experience when he was a child in Calamba. The unjust arrest of Sisa from ³Noli´ may be an allusion of the arrest of his mother His second novel, ³El Filibusterismo´ was dedicated to Gomburza which martyrdom served as huge turning point in his life.