Jose Rizal’s Famil

Childhood, and
Early Education
Subject: -G
RIZAL (Life and Works of Rizal)
FAMILY NOTE:
1. Father: Francisco Mercado

BACKGROUND The family were wealthy farmers who rented land from the
Dominican religious order.

Descendants of a Chinese immigrant named Domingo Lam-co, a

• BIRTH full-blooded Chinese who came to the Philippines from Amoy,
China in the closing years of the 17th century and married a
1. Date: June 19, 1861 Chinese half-breed by the name of Ines de la Rosa.

They changed their name to Mercado ("market") under the

2. Place: Calamba, Laguna pressure of anti-Chinese feeling among the Spanish colonizers.

• PARENTS
2. Mother: Teodora Alonso y Realonda
 Jose Rizal is the seventh child in the family. He has nine sisters and
one brother.
• SIBLINGS
1. Saturnina (1850-1913). Married to Manuel Hidalgo of Tanauan,
Batangas.
2. Paciano (1851-1930). During the Philippine Revolution, he became
the revolutionary general and retired to farming after the conflict.
Though he was thought to be the a bachelor during his life, he
actually had his own family.
3. Narcisa (1852-1939). Married to Antonio Lopez, a teacher from
Morong, Rizal.
4. Olimpia (1855-1887). Married to Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph
operator from Manila.
5. Lucia (1857-1919). Married to Mariano Herbosa of Calamba.
6. Maria (1859-1945). Married to Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan,
Laguna.
---7. {Jose Rizal}

8. Concepcion (1862-1865). Died at the age of 3.

9. Josefa (1865-1945). Head of the women chapter of the Katipunan,
died unmarried.
10. Trinidad (1868-1951). A member of the Katipunan, unmarried.
 11. Soledad (1870-1929). Married to Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba.
EARLY CHILDHOOD
• The Hero’s First Teacher

The first teacher of Rizal was his mother, who was a

remarkable woman of good character and fine culture. On
her lap, he learned at the age of three the alphabet and the
prayers. "My mother," wrote Rizal in his student memoirs,
"taught me how to read and to say haltingly the humble
prayers which I raised fervently to God."
As tutor, Doña Teodora was patient, conscientious, and understanding. It was she
who first discovered that her son had a talent for poetry. Accordingly, she
encouraged him to write poems. To lighten the monotony of memorizing the ABC’s
and to stimulate her son’s imagination, she related many stories.

• As Jose grew older, his parents employed private tutors to give him
lessons at home. The first was Maestro Celestino and the second,
Maestro Lucas Padua. Later, an old man named Leon Monroy, a former
classmate of Rizal’s father, became the boy’s tutor. This old teacher lived
at the Rizal home and instructed Jose in Spanish and Latin.
Unfortunately, he did not lived long. He died five months later.
• After a Monroy’s death, the hero’s parents decided to send their gifted
son to a private school in Biñan.

Influences from other Members of his

Family:
• Uncle Gregorio taught him the value of hard work, to think for himself,
and to observe his surroundings keenly.

• Uncle Jose encouraged him to sketch, paint, and make sculptures.

• Uncle Manuel encouraged him to pursue his physical development. He
taught the young boy swimming, fencing, wrestling and other sports.

• His yaya (nanny) told stories of duwendes (dwarves), ghosts, and

aswangs (evil spirits), of the beautiful Mariang Makiling, and other tales
on the beautiful surroundings of his hometown, Calamba. Stories that
awakened the imagination and creativity of the young boy.
 The young Jose or
Pepe
• José 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.
• 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 neighbourhood.
• 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 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.

During his Secondary Education:

1. Biñan, Laguna
- Jose studied under Justiniano Aquino Cruz in Biñan, Laguna
before he was sent to Manila.
- Process used in teaching: He was quick to discipline his
students for any infraction using a short, thin stick.
 2. Manila
- As to his father’s request, he took the entrance examination in
Colegio de San Juan de Letran and studied there for almost three
months. The Dominican friars asked him to transfer to another school
due to his radical and bold questions.
3. Injustice to Rizal Family
- Doña Teodora tried to mediate between the spouses, but was
accused as an accomplice of Jose Alberto of trying to poison his wife. - Doña
Teodora was thrown to jail.
4. As a student of Ateneo (1872-1877)
- Jose entered Ateneo Municipal as an eleven-year-old.
 - His close friendship with Fr. Francisco de Paula Sanchez, S.J.
inspired the young student.
*Some poems written under the guidance of Fr. Sanchez:
“The Tragedy of St. Eustace”
“In the Memory of My Town”
“Intimate Alliance between Religion and Good Education”
“Through Education Motherland Receives Enlightenment”
….while in Ateneo
- He had excellent achievements and graduated highest in his
class.
- He studied painting under Agustin Saez.
 - He studied sculpture under Teodoro Romualdo de Jesus.
- He carved the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary on a
batikuling wood.
- He carved the image of the Sacred Heart.
- He joined the organization Marian Congregation. His
mentor was Fr. Pablo Pastells, S.J.
- He was a member of the Academy of Spanish Literature.
- He was a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences.
- Fr. Jose Villaclara, S.J. encouraged him to pay attention also
to the sciences and philosophy.
5. In S.Y. 1877-1878, he returned to Ateneo while studying at the
University of Santo Tomas. He took up a course on land surveying which
was offered then as a vocational course.
- He completed the surveyor’s course and was awarded the
title perito agrimensor.
- He passed the final examination of the course.
- He could not practice the surveyor’s profession since he
was still underage when he passed the course.
- He was issued his certificate on Nov. 25, 1881, at the age of
20.
6. As a student of the University of Santo Tomas
- He enrolled at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters; majored in
Philosophy, 1877-1878.
- He pursued medicine at the University of Santo Tomas. Some of
his grades were still excellent but he also had lower grades.
7. Literary Contests
-He submitted an entry in the Liceo Artistico Literario de Manila in
1879, entitled “A La Juventud Filipina” (To the Filipino Youth).
- He won first prize in the contest.
- He was awarded a silver quill.
 - For the first time, he used the phrase, “the youth, the fair hope of
my country” (kabataan, pag-asa ng aking bayan).
- In 1880, he submitted another entry entitled “El Consejo de los
Dioses” (Council of the Gods).
- This was held in commemoration of the 400th death anniversary of
Miguel de Cervantes, Spain’s national poet.
- This poem was in praise of Cervantes and made him coequal with
Homer and Virgil.
- He was awarded the grand prize.
- The award was a gold ring with an engraved bust of Cervantes.
8. Other literary works:
 - “Junto al Pasig” – This one-act play was requested by the
Jesuits on the feast day of the Immaculate Conception. This was a satire
showing the good elements and bad elements. In the end, it was a
victory for the good elements.
- “A Filipinas”
 He decided to continue his
studies in Spain:
1. to widen his knowledge;
2. to avail of more
conducive conditions in Europe;
and
 3. to learn a cure on the worsening eye condition of his mother.
Sources:
• De Viana, A.V., Cabrera, H.M.F., Samala, E.P., De Vera, M.M., Atutubo,
J.C. (2018). Jose Rizal: Social Reformer and Patriot, A Study of his Life
and Times. Quezon City: Rex Printing Company, Inc.

• http://www.joserizal.ph/ec01.html
• https://www.thoughtco.com/jose-rizal-hero-of-the-
philippines195677