Life of Rizal: Family, Childhood, and Influences

• Dr. Jose Rizal is known as the "Life of a Great Hero"

Objectives

• Learn about the Rizal family
• Examine Rizal's family, childhood, early education, and experiences that shaped his personality
• Examine the factors (people, environment, experiences) that influenced the youth of the national hero

Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonzo Realonda

• Born on June 19, 1861
• Born "between eleven and twelve at night, before the moon waned"
• Born in Calamba, Laguna
• Died December 30, 1896

According to Narcisa and Maria

• Jose was a very tiny child, but his head grew very large
• When he began to walk, he often fell because his head was too heavy for his frail body
• Because of this, he needed a nanny to look after him

Name of the National Hero

• JOSE relates to Saint Joseph
• San Jose is the Father of Jesus
• Jose Soler was the Grandfather, brother of his Grandmother Brigida
• Jose Florentino was a relative who represented the Cortes
• Jose Maria Florentino Alberto was Rizal's uncle, said to be his mother's favorite

PROTACIO

• Protacio comes from the Catholic calendar
• San Protacio was a saint and martyr from Milan

MERCADO

• Mercado means market
• It was taken as a Spanish surname by his ancestor Domingo Lamco in 1731

RIZAL

• It came from the Spanish word "Ricial" meaning "a field planted with wheat, harvested while still green, and will grow again"

ALONZO

• The first surname of his mother

REALONDA

• The surname used by his mother from her godmother

Did you know?

• Jose Rizal got the nickname "Pepe" from Saint Joseph because his mother was a devotee of it
• It is believed that the meaning of St. Joseph in Latin is shortened to P.P or Pater Putativus
• Meanwhile, in Spanish, the letter P is pronounced as "peh"

The Family of Dr. Jose Rizal

• The parents of the National Hero

Don Francisco Engracio Mercado Rizal y Alejandro

• Born in Biñan, Laguna
• Born on May 11, 1818
• Son of Juan Mercado and Cirila Alejandro
• The youngest of 13 siblings: Petrona, Gabino, Potenciana, Leoncio, Tomasa, Casimiro, Basilisa, Gabriel, Fausta, Julian, Cornelio, Gregorio, and Francisco
• Attended Colegio de San Jose in Manila
• Studied Latin and Philosophy
• Died in Manila on January 5, 1898
• Age: 80
• He was known as the "Model of Fathers"

Doña Teodora Alonzo Realonda y de Quintos

• Born in Manila
• Born November 8, 1826
• Daughter of Lorenzo Alberto Alonzo and Brigida de Quintos
• Second of five siblings: Narcisa, Teodora, Gregorio, Manuel and (Jose)
• Attended Colegio de Santa Rosa in Manila
• Married Francisco Mercado on June 28, 1848
• Died in Manila on August 11, 1911
• Age: 85

Doña Teodora Alonzo Realonda

• Described as extraordinary, knowledgeable about Literature and fluent in Spanish, even more so than Rizal
• She corrected his poems and gave him great advice when he was studying rhetoric
• Skilled in mathematics and read many books

The Siblings of Dr. Jose Rizal

• Eleven siblings in total

Saturnina Rizal (1850-1913)

• The eldest of the siblings
• Married Manuel Timoteo Hidalgo of Tanauan, Batangas

Paciano Rizal (1851-1930)

• Rizal's only brother
• Married Severina Decena
• Graduated from Colegio de San Jose in Manila
• A farmer who became a general of the revolution after his brother's death
• Supporter of Rizal's studies abroad

Narcisa Rizal (1852-1939)

• The third of the siblings, became a teacher and musician
• Married Antonino (Antonio) Lopez of Morong, Bataan, who was also a teacher

Olympia Rizal (1855-1887)

• The fourth of the siblings
• Married Silvestre Ubaldo
• She died while Rizal was in Europe

Lucia Rizal (1857-1919)

• The fifth of the siblings
• Married Mariano Herbosa, who was not given a blessing at his funeral because he was associated with Jose

Maria Rizal (1859-1945)

• The sixth of the siblings
• Married Daniel Faustino of Biñan, Laguna
• Had 5 children

Dr. Jose Rizal (1861-1896)

• The seventh of the siblings
• The youngest boy

Concepcion Rizal (1862-1865)

• The eighth of the siblings
• Concha; died at the age of 3
• Jose's first grief

Josefa Rizal (1865-1945)

• The ninth of the siblings
• Died at the age of 80

Trinidad Rizal (1868-1951)

• The tenth of the siblings
• Jose entrusted her with his letter in the lamp in his last moments

Soledad Rizal (1870-1929)

• The youngest of the siblings
• Married Pantaleon Quinter
• Had 5 children

Rizal's Family Tree

• Domingo Lamco married Ines de la Rosa
• Francisco Mercado married Bernarda Monicha
• Juan Mercado married Cirila Alejandra
• Francisco Mercado Rizal married Teodora Alonzo Realonda
• Their children are Saturnina Rizal, Paciano Rizal, Narcisa Rizal, Olimpia Rizal, Lucia Rizal, Maria Rizal, Jose Rizal, Conception Rizal, Josefa Rizal, Trinidad Rizal and Soledad Rizal

Origin of Rizal's lineage from his father

• Domingo Lam-co/Lamco (1662-1752)

• From Chinchew (Changelow, Changchow), Fukien City a district in China

• Baptized as a Christian in the Church of San Gabriel in the parian in June 1697 - 34 years old

• Siang-co and Zun-nio were his parents

• Came to Manila in 1731

• Domingo means Sunday

• Domingo Lamco married Inez dela Rosa, who was almost half his age

• They were married in the same parian church and priest who baptized him

• The parents of Inez de la Rosa were Agustin Chinco and Jacinta Rafaela, a Chinese mestizo

• Fray Francisco Marquez, author of Chinese grammar, and Fray Juan Caballero, a former missionary to China, became friends, resulting in them settling in a Dominican estate in Biñan named after San Isidro Labrador

• Francisco Mercado (1731-1801) was the son and married a Chinese-Filipino mestizo, Bernarda Monicha, and was elected gobernadorcillo (Capitan-Municipal) of the town (3 times)

• Juan Mercado (Jose Rizal's grandfather) was their son and married Cirila Alejandro, a Chinese mestizo-Filipino, who also became gobernadorcillo of Biñan like his father; they are the parents of Don Francisco Mercado Rizal, Jose Rizal's father

Origin of Rizal's lineage from his mother

• Came from Lakandula (Zaide)

• Her ancestors were Eugenio Ursua who had Japanese lineage who married Benigna

• They had a child, Regina Ursua who married Atty. Manuel Quintos, a Chinese-Filipino lawyer from Pangasinan

• They had a daughter, Brigida Quintos who married Engr. Lorenzo Alberto Alonzo, a well-known Spanish-Filipino mestizo of Biñan who became captain of Biñan in 1824

• They had 5 children - Narcisa, Gregorio, Manuel and (Jose), the mother of Dr. Jose Rizal, Doña Teodora Alonzo Realonda

The Childhood of Dr. Jose Rizal

• June 22, 1861; he was baptized a Catholic at 3 days old
• Father Rufino Collantes was the parish priest of the church of Calamba, who baptized Rizal
• Father Pedro Casañas was the godfather of Jose, a native of Calamba and a close friend of the Rizal family
• Aquilina Alquitran was the ayah (nanny) of Pepe
• Lieutenant-General Jose Lemery was the Governor-General of the Philippines when he was born

Calamba

• Ten hours by horse south of Manila
• A town inhabited by about three to four thousand people, is at the heart of agricultural abundance, planted with sugarcane and rice in the plains around it, and a forest full of various kinds of fruits