Jose Rizal: Life, Experiences, and History

Getting to Know Jose Rizal

• Courageous novelist of Noli Me Tangere
• Poet, writer with the saying "he who does not love his own language is worse than a smelly fish."

Biography of Jose Rizal

• Born in Calamba on June 19, 1861
• Wednesday, nearly costing his mother's life

Parents

• Mother: Teodora Alonso Realonda (Doña Lolay)
  • Interested in literature, proficient in Spanish and mathematics
  • Assisted with business and ran a store
• Father: Francisco Mercado (Kikoy)
  • Sensitive, more than four decades older than Rizal
  • Practical education

Childhood and Education

• Taught proper manners and household chores
• Studied in Biñan at the age of nine, introduced to teaching by maestro Justiniano Cruz
• Experienced pain from teachers' cane
• Experienced injustice towards his mother who was accused and imprisoned

Studying at Ateneo Municipal

• First introduced to new conditions in Manila
• Struggled to speak Spanish, a provincial far from his home
• Became topnotcher in the class contrary to first impressions
• Developed a comedic mindset due to success against discrimination

Bitter Experience at University

• Receiving lashes from a lieutenant of the Guardia Civil
• Significance of the experiences at the University of Santo Tomas
• Achieved success without applause from people, but remained unbroken

Journey to Europe

• Studied at various universities in Spain: Medicine and Philosophy
• Socialized with Blumentritt and Filipino intellectuals
• Inspired by liberal ideas

Noli Me Tangere and Challenges

• Struggled to print the novel Noli Me Tangere in Berlin
• Assistance from Maximo Viola for the press
• Attempted to return to the Philippines to implement the ideas in his novel

Imprisonment and Exile

• Forced to leave the country again and went to Hong Kong, Japan, and America
• Deceived in Madrid due to a false election
• Experience in Dapitan: medical practice, school, and personal life challenges

Return to the Philippines and Injustice

• Opposed the Katipunan's plan
• Volunteered in Cuba as a doctor
• Last meeting with family before his sentence

Conclusion

• Faced the death sentence courageously
• Final instructions and letters to family and friends
• Displayed heroism in his commitment to his homeland