Childhood of Jose Rizal

Jos Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso

Realonda was born on June 19, 1861, in
the town of Calamba, Laguna.
He was baptized JOSE RIZAL
MERCADO at the Catholic of Calamba by
the parish priest Rev. Rufino Collantes
with Rev. Pedro Casaas as the sponsor.
He was the seventh child in a family of 11
children (2 boys and 9 girls). Both his
parents were educated and belonged to
distinguished families.

Francisco
Mercado

teodora
alonso

Siblings of Francisco Mercado

and Teodora Alonso
SATURNINA RIZAL(1850-1913)
EldestchildoftheRizal-Alonzomarriage.MarriedManuelTimoteo
HidalgoofTanauan,Batangas.
PACIANO RIZAL(1851-1930)
OnlybrotherofJoseRizalandthesecondchild.StudiedatSanJose
CollegeinManila;becameafarmerandlaterageneralofthe
PhilippineRevolution.
NARCISA RIZAL(1852-1939)
Thethirdchild.marriedAntonioLopezatMorong,Rizal;ateacherand
musician.
OLYMPIA RIZAL(1855-1887)
Thefourthchild.MarriedSilvestreUbaldo;diedin1887fromchildbirth.
LUCIA RIZAL(1857-1919)
Thefifthchild.MarriedMatrianoHerbosa.

MARIA RIZAL (1859-1945)

Thesixthchild.MarriedDanielFaustinoCruzofBian,
Laguna.
JOSE RIZAL (1861-1896)
Thesecondsonandtheseventhchild.Hewasexecuted
bytheSpaniardsonDecember30,1896.
CONCEPCION RIZAL(1862-1865)
Theeightchild.Diedattheageofthree.
JOSEFA RIZAL(1865-1945)
Theninthchild.Anepileptic,diedaspinster.
TRINIDAD RIZAL(1868-1951)
Thetenthchild.Diedaspinsterandthelastofthefamily
todie.
SOLEDAD RIZAL(1870-1929)
TheyoungestchildmarriedPantaleonQuintero.

Jose Rizals Education

JoseRizalsfirstteacherwashismother,whohad
taughthimhowtoreadandprayandwhohad
encouragedhimtowritepoetry.Later,private
tutorstaughttheyoungRizalSpanishandLatin,
beforehewassenttoaprivateschoolinBian.
RizalfirststudiedunderJustinianoAquinoCruz
inBian,LagunabeforehewassenttoManila.As
tohisfather'srequest,hetooktheentrance
examinationinColegiodeSanJuandeLetranand
studiedthereforalmostthreemonths.The
Dominicanfriarsaskedhimtotransfertoanother
schoolduetohisradicalandboldquestions.

 Whenhewas11yearsold,Rizalenteredthe
Ateneo Municipal de Manila.Heearned
excellentmarksinsubjectslikephilosophy,
physics,chemistry,andnaturalhistory.At
thisschool,hereadnovels;wroteprizewinningpoetry(andevenamelodrama
JuntoalPasig);andpracticeddrawing,
painting,andclaymodeling,allofwhich
remainedlifelonginterestsforhim.

 Rizaleventuallyearnedaland surveyors
and assessors degreefromtheAteneo
MunicipalwhiletakingupPhilosophyand
LettersattheUniversity of Santo Tomas.
Uponlearningthathismotherwasgoing
blind,Rizaloptedtostudyophthalmologyat
theUST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery.
He,however,wasnotabletocompletethe
coursebecausehebecamepolitically
isolatedbyadversariesamongthefaculty
andclergywhodemandedthatheassimilate
totheirsystem.

 Without his parents' knowledge and

consent, but secretly supported by
his brotherPaciano, he traveled
alone toMadrid, Spainin May 1882
and studied medicine at
theUniversidad Central de
Madridwhere he earned the
degree,Licentiate in Medicine. Also,
he also attended medical lectures at
theUniversity of Parisand
theUniversity of Heidelberg. In Berlin
he was inducted as a member of the
Berlin Ethnological Society and the

 Rizal, 11 years old, a student at the

Ateneo Municipal de Manila.

 Jos Rizal as a student at theUniversity

of Santo Tomas.

 Jos was designed by nature to be an

artist. This he revealed before he was five
years of age, for without any assistance
from others he began to draw with his
pencil and to mould in wax or clay any
object he saw about him. Fortunately, his
mother, father, and uncles recognized this
unusual talent and gave him every
encouragement.

 A Group of Sketches by Rizal.

 There was a also a time when Rizal was able to draw

a bird flying nearby without lifting the pencil he was
using from the paper till the picture he drew was
finished. He can also draw a running horse and a
chasing dog.
Jose Rizal also owned a pony and used it to have long
rides into the surrounding country which was rich in
scenery. He also took long walks together with his big
black dog named Usman. He also loved to play with
the doves in his neighborhood. He learned about the
myths and legends in Laguna after sleeping through
the nut in a little straw hut used by Laguna farmers
during the harvest season. Rizal was also good in
hand tricks which he perfected to amaze the simple
folk and performed magic lantern exhibitions.

 The little boy spent also much of his time

in the church, which was conveniently near,
but when the mother suggested that this might
be an indication of religious inclination, his
prompt response was that he liked to watch
the people.
Even in his childhood, Rizal already knew how
to respect the rights of others and requested
his elders to reason with him rather than get
mad at him for small offenses. He became a
welcome companion for adults even at his
young age since he respected their moods
and was never a hindrance to their activities.

 Three uncles who were brothers of his

mother also had much influence on the early
childhood of Jose Rizal. The youngest uncle
named Jose, took care of teaching regular
lessons to Rizal. His huge uncle Manuel
developed his physique until he had a body
of silk and steel and no longer a skinny and
sickly boy. The last uncle, Gregorio instilled
in the mind of Rizal that it was not easy to
obtain something until you put effort into it.

 The childhood of Jose Rizal can be

characterized by his desire to learn, even
frequenting the church nearby his home to watch
and observe people but not to
be religiously inclined. Jose Rizal was not a
physically blessed or strong child however, he
had a strong will guided and taught by his
mother, his first teacher. He learned almost
without the use of books. His mother was the
one who laid the foundation of his great
knowledge achieved in such a short time. His
brilliance was also the character of the young
Jose Rizal.