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Rizal's Life: Family, Childhood and Early Education

• The chapter will discuss the life, family, birth, and early education of the Philippine National hero, Dr. Jose Rizal.
• Rizal's ancestors on both his paternal and maternal sides were people of substance and had influence.
• The Rizal lineage was regarded as one of the biggest families of their era.
• Rizal was born into a 13-member family that included his parents, Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso Realonda, as well as nine sisters and one brother.
• His happy childhood memories included messing around and honing his skills with his siblings.
• Rizal was raised with Catholic virtues and values.
• Unhappy events in Jose Rizal's life: the death of his little sister, Concepcion or Concha, the execution of Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, and the imprisonment of his mother, Dona Teodora.
• The deaths of Gomburza and his mother's incarceration left an imprint on him.
• He was given tutors and later sent to Binan for formal education.
• Although it was not an easy experience to get his education away from his family, Rizal finished successfully due to his perseverance.

Birth

• The national hero was born in the lakeside town of Calamba, Laguna, on the moonlit night of June 19, 1861, between eleven and twelve o'clock in the morning.
• Pepe was the seventh child of Don Francisco Mercado and Dona Teodora Alonso.
• Father Rufino Collantes baptized the baby three days later, naming him Jose Protacio in honor of Saint Joseph and Saint Protacio.
• Dona Teodora was a devout follower of Saint Joseph and it was their custom to commemorate him on the 19th of each month.
• Saint Protacio is the patron saint of June 19 and was martyred in Milan, Italy.
• His family referred to him as Pepe because of "Saint Joseph" who had the letters 'P.P' for pater putativus in Latin and the letter 'P' is pronounced 'peh' in Spanish.
• It is said that Dona Teodora made a pact with Antipolo's Patroness, Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, that she would send her child on a pilgrimage to her shrine once the difficult birthing process was complete.
• Teodora kept her promise and sent her seven-year-old son on a journey from their hometown of Calamba to Antipolo, which was then part of the province of Morong.

Family

• Rizal was christened at the church on June 22, 1861 and baptised by Reverend Father Rufino Collantes with godfather Reverend Father Pedro Casanas.
• Father Collantes told Pepe's family to look after him because Jose would become someone because he noticed the unusual size of his head.
• Pepe's baptismal certificate was unfortunately destroyed in a fire in 1862.
• It was only restored via eyewitnesses and under the supervision of Father Leoncio Lopez, a Filipino priest and a friend of the Mercado family.
• Pepe loved visiting Father Lopez to converse with him and the priest was the model for Pepe's portrayal of Father Florentino in "El Filibusterismo."
• Despite their large family, Don Francisco and Dona Teodora were a harmonious, productive couple with eleven children and were able to find joy and happiness and did not spoil their children.
• Saturnina was born in 1850, Paciano in 1851, Narcisa in 1852, Olimpia in 1855, Maria in 1859, Jose in 1861, Concepcion in 1862, Josefa in 1865, Trinidad in 1868, and Soledad in 1870.
• Paciano was ten years older than Jose and acted as his second father.

Parents

• Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y Alejandra II was the youngest of 13 children, was born on May 11, 1818, in Binan, Laguna, and was from the fourth generation of a Chinese immigrant named Domingo Lamco who arrived in the late 1600s.
• He studied Latin and philosophy and Latin at the Colegio de San Jose in Manila.
• Considered the Cabeza de Barangay, or head of the Barangay, he rented holdings increased and built a stone house in the town center.
• He was evicted from his house in September 1899 because of his failure in the agrarian case and died in Manila on January 5, 1898 at the age of 80.
• Jose Rizal considered his father to be a "model of fathers," and as a result, had provided them with education.
• Doña Teodora Morales Alonzo Realonde y Quintos On November 9, 1827, was born in Manile, attended the College of Santa Rosa, and was a remarkable woman with refined culture, literary talent, business acumen and the tenacity of Spartan women.
• Mother of a higher culture and mathematician, she could correct poems and give advice.
• She died on August 16, 1911, in Manila, at the age of 85, in her home at San Fernando Street in Binondo.

Siblings

• Dr. Jose Rizal's parents, Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso, married on June 28, 1848 and had 11 children, with two boys and nine girls.
• Saturnina (1850-1913) was the eldest, attended La Concordia College and married Manuel Hidalgo.
• Paciano (1851-1930) was Rizal's elder and only brother, studied Latin, was an ardent Katipunero referred to as "Uto" by Jose.
• Narcisa (1852-1939) was the second daughter and third child, supported Jose's studies abroad, married Antonio Lopez, and was one of the family members who visited Jose Rizal.
• She discovered Rizal's remains after a two-day search after his execution.
• Olimpia (1855-1887) was the fourth child an was married to Silvestro Ubaldo and Jose loved to tease her.
• Lucia (1857-1919) was born in 1857, married Mariano Herbosa and Mariano died in 1889 and Lucia passed away in 1919.
• Maria (1859-1945) was born in 1855 maried Daniel Faustino Cruz, and was a known recipient of many of Jose's letter who passed away in 1945.
• Concepcion (1862-1865) died at the age of three.
• Josefa (1865-1945) was unmarried and suffered from epilepsy
• Trinidad (1868-1951) was the one who received from Jose an alcohol lamp in which he secretly hid the "Last Farewell, also known as "Mi Ultimos Adios.
• Soledad (1870-1929) was the youngest, married Pantaleon Quintero and passed away in 1929.
• Rizal's sisters were largely responsible for the family's unity which made the family stick together despite all the persecution.
• Rizal was very close with his siblings, specially his brother Paciano.

Ancestors

• The Rizal family was a mix of races as Principales and Jose had Chinese ancestors on his father's side and Japanese ancestors on his mother's side.
• Rizal's ancestry can also be traced back to Malayan and Indonesian genes.
• Domingo Lamco, was Jose Rizal's great-great grandfather who arrived in Manila around 1690, became a Christian and changed his surname to "Mercado" in 1731.
• Francisco Mercado was Jose's great grandfather, named after an uncle, and married Cirila Bernacha.
• Juan Mercado, Jose's grandfather was elected as Gobernadorcillo three times between 1808 - 1823 and married Cirila Alejandra.
• Matrilineal descent can be traced back to Lakandula, the last native king of Tondo anda Bornean Muslim.
• There were reasons why Jose's parents' descendants did not use the surnames Lamco and Mercado where the Lamco family was not used to taking their godparents' names.
• Jose is the only one who uses the surname Rizal.

Childhood

• Jose Rizal's childhood was filled with happy memories which he characterized with being amiable, thoughtful and a loving son, brother and sibling.
• He was well guided by his mother, who served as his first teacher, and also his uncles.
• When he was three years old, his mother taught him the alphabet and how to pray and she noticed that he could write poems at a young age and encouraged him to keep writing.
• He wrote a poem about his hometown, "In Memory of My Town," when he was a young boy and his father built him a small nipa hut for him to play.
• His nurse maid told him ghost stories, treasure stories, legends, and folktales such as aswang, nuno sa punso, and tikbalang.
• He often enjoyed listening to culiawan, maya, maria capra, martini, and pipit bird songs.
• His uncle Jose was in charge of teaching him and his uncle Gregorio instilled in him the desire to do more and work harder in order to achieve his goals in life.
• Jose also owned a pony, which he used to ride around and performed magic tricks such as disappearing a coin, falsely cutting a thin rope, and untying a handkerchief and would silently tell his sisters would build monuments and images of him when he died.
• Jose's happiest memory included the trip with his father to Antipolo to fulfill his mother's vow to perform pilgrimage to the Virgin of Antipolo.
• His first experience of grief was when he was four years old, as a result of the death of his younger sister Concepcion (Concha).
• Jose developed an interest in writing short verses where his mother told him a story about a moth one night and it left an indelible memory of sacrificing for a worthy cause in exchange for something valuable.

Early Education

• Rizal was first educated at home by his mother, Dona Teodora.
• She would sit the three-year-old Pepe on her lap and devotedly taught him the alphabet, prayers and the Holy Bible.
• Story of the Moth touched him so deeply that he recorded it in his diary.
• Dona Teodora always held storytelling sessions with the young Rizal in order to impart important life lessons such as reading the book Amigo de los Nios (The Children's Friend) .
• Rizal paid little attention and watched the cheerful flame and asked about the moths saying the lesson was to not behave like the young moth for his future.
• Jose received private tutors to teach him at his home with Maestro Celestino and Maestro Lucas Padua being the first and second and an elderly man named Leon Monroy.
• He was taught Spanish and Latin but Monroy passed away and with his death caused his parents to send Jose to a private school in Binan when he turned nine.
• Jose said his farewells and left Calamba for Binan on a Sunday afternoon in June 1869 with Paciano, who acted as his second father to continue his Latin studies.
• He left, arrived, and then introduced at Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz's school the next morning with his sibling.
• Jose's teacher was a strict disciplinarian where he asked Jose about Spanish and Latin class.
• Jose met the bully, Pedro, where they eventually wrestled and Jose triumphed over him .
• Jose had more fights where it was said he wasn't a quarrelsome peson but would always fight.
• Spending his free time with Justiniano's father-in-law, he was always orderly, would attend mass, have breakfast and went on with his day at school.
• Jose was very reflective of his hometown and his parents and siblings where he would cry due to how he felt.
• He performed well in school but some students didn't like Jose as a result and some would falsely accuse him for which he received punishments and was forced to punish Jose for the truth.
• Visiting his hometown every now and then, he felt increasingly sad because he can see the place but it felt like it would disappear soon and felt like he would be stuck there.
• During Rizal's early education, two disheartening events drew his attention and disturbed him: the execution of the priests (Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora) and the imprisonment of her mother.

The Imprisonment of Doña Teodora

• Jose Rizal was only 11 years old when he witnessed his mother's extraordinary bravery: accused of poisoning her sister-in-law, she was forced to walk 50 kilometers around Laguna.

The Death of GOMBURZA

• With Governor General Rafael Izquierdo repealing workers tribute exemption, the workers rose up in arms and mutinied against the colonial government in 1872.
• Three secular priests Mariano Gomes de los Angeles, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, were among them and the Spanish saw this as a threat and were therefore accused and executed.