José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist and polymath. He was executed by the Spanish colonial government for the crime of rebellion after the Philippine Revolution, inspired in part by his writings. He is widely considered one of the greatest heroes of the Philippines and has been recommended to be so honored by an officially empaneled National Heroes Committee.
About José Rizal in brief
José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist and polymath. He was executed by the Spanish colonial government for the crime of rebellion after the Philippine Revolution, inspired in part by his writings. He is widely considered one of the greatest heroes of the Philippines and has been recommended to be so honored by an officially empaneled National Heroes Committee. No law, executive order or proclamation has been enacted or issued officially proclaiming any Filipino historical figure as a national hero. His patrilineal lineage could be traced back to Fujian in China through his father’s ancestor Lam-Co, a Chinese merchant who immigrated to the Philippines in the late 17th century. His mother’s lineage can be traced to the affluent Florentina family of Chinese mestizo families originating in Baliuag, Bulacan. He also had Spanish ancestry. His grandfather was a half Spaniard engineer named Lorenzo Alberto Alonzo. On his mother’s side, RizAl’s ancestry included Chinese, Japanese and Tagalog blood. He learned the alphabet from his mother at 3, and could read and write at age 5. He dropped the last three names that made up his full name, on the advice of his brother, Paciano and the Mercado family, thus rendering his name as \”Josés ProtasioRizal\”. Of this, he later wrote: \”My family never paid much attention, but now I had to use it, thus giving me the appearance of an illegitimate child!\” This was to enable him to travel freely and disassociate him from his brother who had gained notoriety with his earlier links to Filipino priests Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora who had been accused and executed for treason.
Despite the name change, José, as \”RizAl\”, soon distinguished himself in poetry writing contests, impressing his professors with his facility with Castilian and other foreign languages, and later, in writing essays that were critical of the Spanish historical accounts of the pre-colonial Philippine societies. He continued his education at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila and graduated as one of nine students in his class. He then enrolled at the Letran de San Juan de San Francisco but he was declared a sobresiente or outstanding or outstanding student. As a result, he took the entrance examination in Colegio de San San Juan and was sent to Manila, where he became an ophthalmologist. In 1891, this second surname had become so well known that another friend, another friend of his, wrote to him: “All my family now carry the name Riz al because the name means persecution! Good! I too want to join them and be worthy of this name.” He was the author of the novels Noli Me Tángere and El filibusterismo, and a number of poems and essays. He ultimately approved of its goals which eventually led to Philippine independence.
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This page is based on the article José Rizal published in Wikipedia (as of Jan. 01, 2021) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
