Learning Information Sheet M.1.

THE LIFE OF RIZAL FROM BIRTH TO CHILDHOOD

Learning Objectives

After reading this information sheet, you must be able to:

1. Learn about the birth of our national hero

2. Name the parents and siblings of Dr. Jose Rizal
3. Study the early childhood and education of Dr. Jose Rizal
4. Learn from the good values and attitudes of Dr. Jose Rizal as a
young child and student

Introduction
Dr. Jose Rizal is a unique example of a many-splendored
genius who became the greatest hero of a nation. Endowed by
God with versatile gifts, he truly ranked with the world’s
geniuses. He was a physician (ophthalmic surgeon), poet,
dramatist, essayist, novelist, historian, architect, painter,
sculptor, educator, linguist, musician, naturalist, ethnologist,
surveyor, engineer, farmer businessman, economist, geographer,
cartographer, bibliophile, philologist, grammarian, folklorist,
philosopher, translator, inventor, magician, humorist, satirist,
polemicist, sportsman, traveller and prophet. Above and beyond
all these, he was a hero and political martyr who consecrated hid
life for the redemption of his oppressed people. No wonder, he is
now acclaimed as the national hero of Philippines.

Lesson 1: Advent of a National Hero

The Birth of a Hero. Jose Rizal was born on the moonlit
night of Wednesday, June 19, 1861, in the lakeshore town of
Calamba, Laguna Province, Philippines. His mother almost died
during the delivery because of his big head. As he recounted
many years later in his student memoirs: “I was born in Calamba
on June 19, 1861, between eleven and midnight, a few days
before full moon. It was a Wednesday and my coming out in this
vale of tears would have cost my mother her life had she not
vowed to the virgin of Antipolo to take me to her sanctuary by
way of pilgrimage.”
He was baptized in the Catholic church of his town on June 22,
aged three days old, by the parish priest, Father Rufino Collantes,
who was Batangueño. His godfather (ninong) was Father Pedro
Casanas, native of Calamba and close friend of the Rizal family.
His name “Jose” was chosen by his mother who was devotee of
the Christian saint San Jose (Saint Joseph).

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 During the christening ceremony Father Collantes was
impressed by the baby’s big head, and told the members of the
family who were present: “Take good care if this child, for
someday he will become a great man.” His words proved to be
prophetic, as confirmed by subsequent events.

Rizal’s Parents. Jose Rizal was the seventh of the eleven children
of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso Realonda. The hero’s
father (1818-1898) was born in Biñian, Lahuna, on May 11, 1818. He
studied Language and Philosophy at the College of San Jose in
Manila. In early manhood, following his parent’s death, he moved to
Calamba and became a tenant-farmer of the Dominican-owned
hacienda. He was hardy and independent-minded man, who talked
less and worked more, and was strong in body and valiant in spirit,
he died in Manila on January 5, 1898, at the age of 80. In his student
memoirs, Rizal affectionately called him “a model of fathers”.

Doña Teodora (1826-1911), the hero’s mother, was born in

Manila on November 8, 1826 and was educated at the College of
Santa Rosa, a well-known college for girls in the city. She was a
remarkable woman, possessing refined culture literary talent,
business ability, and the fortitude of Spartan women. Rizal lovingly
said of her: “My mother is a woman of more than ordinary culture;
she knows literature and speaks Spanish better than I. She
corrected my poems and gave me good advice when I was studying
rhetoric. She is a mathematician and has read many boos.” Doña
Teodora died in Manila on August 16, 1911, at the age of 85. Shortly
before her death, the Philippine government offered her a life
pension. She courteously rejected it saying, “My family has never
been patriotic for money. If the government has plenty of funds and
does not know what to do with them, better reduce the taxes.” Such
remarks truly befitted her as a worthy mother of a national hero.

The Rizal Children. God blessed the marriage of Francisco

Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso Realonda with eleven children –
two boys and nine girls. These children were as follows:

1. Saturnina (1850-1913) – oldest of the Rizal children,

nicknamed Neneng; she married Manuel T. Hidalgo of
Tanawan, Batangas.
2. Paciano (1851-1930) – older brother and confident of
Jose Rizal; after his younger brother’s execution, he joined
the Philippine Revolution, he retired to his farm in Los
Baños, where he lived as a gentleman farmer died on April

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 13, 1930, an old bachelor aged 79. He had two children by
his mistress (Severina Decena) – a boy and a girl.
3. Narcisa (1852-1939) – her pet name was Sisa and she
married Antionio Lopez (nephew of Father Leoncio Lopez),
a school teacher of Morong.
4. Olimpia (1855-1887) – Ypia was her pet name; she
married Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph operator from Manila.
5. Lucia (1857-1919) – She married Mariano Herbosa of
Calamba, who was a nephew of Father Casanas. Herbosa
dies of cholera in 1889 and was denied Christian buroal
because he was a brother-in-law of Dr. Rizal.
6. Maria (1859-1945) – Biang was her nickname; she
married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñian, Laguna.
7. JOSE (1861-1896) – the greatest Filipino hero and
peerless genius; his nickname was Pepe; during his exile in
Dapitan, he lived with Jospehine bracken, Irish girl from
Hong Kong; he had a son by her, but this baby-boy dies few
hours ago after birth; Rizal named him “Francisco” after his
father and buried him in Dapitan.
8. Concepcion (1862-1865) – her pet name was Concha;
she died of sickness at the age of three; her death was
Rizal’s first sorrow in life.
9. Josefa (1865-1945) – her pet name was Panggoy; she
died an old maid at the age of 80.
10. Trinidad (1868-1951) – Trining was her pet name; she
died also an old maid in 1951 aged 83.
11. Soledad (1870-1929) – youngest if the Rizal children;
her pet name was Choleng; she married Panteleon
Quintero of Calamba.

Lesson 2: Childhood Years in Calamba and Binian

Jose Rizal had many beautiful childhood memories in his

native town. He grew up in a happy home, ruled by good parents,
bubbling with joy, and sanctified by God’s blessings. His natal town
of Calamba, so named after a big native jar, was a fitting cradle for
a hero. Its scenic beauties and its industrious, hospitable, and
friendly folks impressed him during his childhood years and
profoundly affected his mind and character.

Calamba, the Hero’s Town. Calamba was a hacienda town which

belonged to the Dominican Order which also owned all the lands
around it. It is a picturesque town nestling on a verdant plain
covered with irrigated rice fields and sugar-lands. A few kilometers

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to the south looms the legendary Mount Makiling in somnolent
grandeur, and beyond this mountain is the province of Batangas.

Rizal loved Calamba with all his heart and soul. In 1876, when
he was 15 years old and was a student in Ateneo de Manila, he
remembered his beloved town. Accordingly, he wrote a poem Un
Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo (In Memory of My Town).

Earliest Childhood Memories. The first memory of Rizal, in his

infancy, was his happy days in the family garden when he was three
years old. Because he was a frail, sickly and undersized child, he
was given the tenderest care by his parents. His father built a little
nipa cottage in the garden for him to play in the daytime. A kind old
woman was employed as an aya (nurse maid) to look after his
comfort. At times, he was left alone to muse on the beauties of
nature or to play by himself. In his boyhood memoirs, he narrated
how he, at the age of three, watched from his garden cottage, the
culiauan, the maya, the maria capra, the martin, the pipit, and other
birds and listened “with wonder and joy” to their twilight songs.

Another childhood memory was the daily Angelus prayer. By

nightfall, Rizal related, his mother gathered all the children at the
house to pray the Angelus.

The imaginary tales told by the aya aroused in Rizal during an

enduring interest in legends and folklore. Sometimes, when he did
not like to take his supper, the aya would threaten him that the
asuang, the nuno, the tigbalang, or a bearded and turbaned
Bombay would come to take him away if he would not eat his
supper.

The Hero’s First Sorrow. The Rizal children were bound together
by ties of love and companionship. They were well-bred, for their
parents taught them to love and help one another.

Of his sisters, Jose loved most the little Concha (Concepcion).

He was a year older than Concha. He played with her and from her
he learned the sweetness of sisterly love.

Unfortunately, Concha died if sickness in 1865 when she was

only three years old. Jose, who was very fond of her, cried bitterly at
losing her. “When I was four years old,” he said, “I lost my little
sister Concha, and then for the first time I shed tears caused by love
and grief…” The death of little Concha brought him his first sorrow.

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Devoted Son of the Church. At the age of three, he began to take
part in the family prayers. His mother who was a devout Catholic,
taught him the Catholic prayers. When he was five years old, he was
able to read haltingly the Spanish Family Bible.

He loved to go to church, to pray, to take part in novenas, and

to join the religious processions. It is said that he was so seriously
devout that he was laughingly called Manong Jose by Hermanos and
Hermanas Terceras.

Pilgrimage to Antipolo. On June 6, 1868, Jose and his father left

Calamba to go on a pilgrimage to Antipolo, in order to fulfill his
mother’s vow which was made when Jose was born. Doña Teodora
could not accompany them because she had given birth to Trinidad.
It was the first trip of Jose across Laguna de Bay and his first
pilgrimage to Antipolo.

Artistic Talents. Since early childhood, Rizal revealed his God-

given talent for art. At the age of five, he began to make sketches
with his pencil and to mould clay and wax objects which attracted
his fancy.

It is said that one day, when Jose was a mere boy in Calamba,
a religious banner which was always used during the fiesta was
spoiled. Upon the request of the town mayor, he painted in oil colors
a new banner that delighted the town folks because it was better
than the original one.

One interesting anecdote about Rizal was the incident about

his clay and wax images. One day when he was about six years old,
his sisters laughed at him for spending so much time making those
images rather than participating in their games. He kept silent as
they laugh with childish glee. But as they were departing, he told
them: “All right laugh at me now! Someday when I die, people will
make monuments and images of me!”

First Poem by Rizal. Aside from his sketching and sculpturing

talent, Rizal possessed a God-given gift for literature. Since early
boyhood, he had scribbled verses on loose sheets of paper and on
the textbooks of his sisters. His mother who was a lover of
literature, noticed his poetic inclination and encouraged him to write
poetry.

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 At the age of eight, Rizal wrote his first poem in the native
language entitiled Sa Aking Mga Kababata (To My Fellow Children).
This poem reveals Rizal’s earliest nationalist sentiment. In poetic
verses, he proudly proclaimed that a people who truly love their
native language will surely strive for liberty like “the bird which
soars to freer space above: and that Tagalog is the equal of Latin,
English, Spanish, and any other language.

First Drama by Rizal. After writing the poem “To My Fellow

Children”, Rizal, who was then eight years old, wrote his first
dramatic work which was a Tagalog comedy. It is said that it was
staged in a Calamba festival and was delightfully applauded by the
audience.

Rizal as Boy Magician. Since early manhood, Rizal had been

interested in magic. With his dexterous hand, he learned various
tricks, such as making a coin appear or disappear in his fingers and
making handkerchief vanish in thin air. He entertained his town
folks with magic-lantern exhibitions. This consisted of an ordinary
lamp casting its shadow on a white screen.

Influences on the Hero’s Boyhood. On the night Jose Rizal was

born, other children were born in Calamba and hundreds of other
children were also born all over the Philippines. But why is it that out
of all these children, only one boy – JOSE RIZAL – rose to fame and
greatness?

In the lives of all men there are influences which cause some
to be great and others not. In the case of Rizal, he had all the
favorable influences, few other children in his time enjoyed. These
influences were the following: (1) hereditary influence, (2)
environmental influence, and (3) aid of Divine Providence.

1. Hereditary Influence

According to biological science, there are inherent

qualities which a person inherits from his ancestors and
parents. From his Malayan ancestors, Rizal, evidently,
inherited his love for freedom, his innate desire to travel, and
his indomitable courage. From his Chinese ancestors, he
derived his serious nature, frugality, patience, and love for
children. From his Spanish ancestors, he got his elegance of
bearing, sensitivity to insult and gallantry to ladies. From his
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 father, he inherited a profound sense of self-respect, the love
for work, and the habit of independent thinking. And from his
mother, he inherited his religious nature the spirit of self-
sacrifice, and the passion for arts and literature.
2. Environmental Influence
According to psychologists, environment, as well as
heredity, affects the nature of a person. Environmental
influence includes places, associates, and events. The scenic
beauties of Calamba and the beautiful garden of the Rizal
family stimulated the inborn artistic and literary talents of Jose
Rizal. The religious atmosphere at his home fortified his
religious nature. His brother, Paciano, instilled in his mind the
love for freedom and justice. From his sisters, he learned to be
courteous and kind to women. The fairy tales told by his aya
during his early childhood awakened his interest in folklore
and legends.
His three uncles, brother of his mother, exerted a good
influence on him. Tio Jose Alberto, who had studied for eleven
years in a British school in Calcutta, India, and had traveled in
Europe inspired him to develop his artistic ability. Tio Manuel,
a husky and athletic man, encouraged him to develop his frail
body by means of physical exercises, including horse riding,
walking, and wrestling. And Tio Gregorio, a book lover,
intensified his voracious reading of good books.
Father Leoncio Lopez, the old and learned parish priest
of Calamba, fostered Rizal’s love for scholarship and
intellectual honesty.

3. Aid of Divine Providence

Greater than heredity and environment in the fate of

man is the aid of Divine Providence. A person may have
everything in life – brains, wealth, and power – but, without
the aid of Divine Providence, he cannot attain greatness in the
annals of the nation. Rizal was providentially destined to be
the pride and glory of his nation. God had endowed him with
the versatile gifts of a genius, the vibrant, spirit of a
nationalist, and the valiant heart to sacrifice for a noble cause.