Jose Rizal's Early Education

Study Notes

Jose's parents hired private tutors to teach him at home, including Maestro Celestino, Maestro Lucas Padua, and Leon Monroy, who lived with the Rizal family.
Leon Monroy taught Jose Spanish and Latin, but unfortunately, he died five months later.

After Leon Monroy's death, Jose's parents decided to send him to a private school in Biñan.
Jose left Calamba for Biñan on a Sunday afternoon in June 1869, accompanied by his brother Paciano.

Jose and Paciano arrived at their aunt's house in Biñan, where Jose would lodge.
That night, Jose went sightseeing with his cousin Leandro but became homesick and missed his family.

The next morning, Paciano brought Jose to Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz's school.
Jose was assigned a seat in the class and was asked if he knew Spanish and Latin, to which he replied "a little, sir".
The teacher's son, Pedro, laughed at Jose's answers, but the teacher stopped the noise and began the lessons.

Jose described his teacher as tall, thin, long-necked, with a sharp nose, and a body slightly bent forward.
The teacher wore a sinamay shirt woven by the skilled hands of women from Batangas.

In the afternoon of his first day, Jose got into a fight with Pedro, the teacher's son, who had made fun of him earlier.
Jose challenged Pedro to a fight and won, earning popularity among his classmates.
Later, Jose had an arm-wrestling match with Andres Salandanan and lost, nearly cracking his head on the sidewalk.
In the succeeding days, Jose had other fights with the boys of Biñan, but he was not quarrelsome by nature and never ran away from a fight.