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20 Rare Photos of Jose Rizal Through the Years

Jose Rizal is many things to Filipinos: a hero, patriot, martyr, novelist, and even a god . Over the course of his life, the national hero had plenty to share, including novels, poems, and essays. But, it's about time we explore the few photos of Rizal that exist.

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Sure, we already have his first selfie  but nothing beats seeing how Rizal was like in his rare and most casual moments. In fact, according to leading experts on Rizal such as Renato Constantino and Ambeth Ocampo, the first step to appreciating his heroism is to appreciate his humanity, limitations, shortcomings, sins, and quirks.

On what would have been his 159th birthday, we pay tribute to Jose Rizal with 20 rare photos of him through the years. Check them out below.

A young Jose Rizal

Born in Calamba, Laguna on June 19 in 1861, Jose Rizal learned to read and write by age five.

Rizal at age 14

Rizal during his teenage years.

Rizal received his secondary education in the city of Manila, and then traveled overseas to study philosophy and medicine at the University of Madrid, the University of Paris, and the University of Heidelberg.

More:   The 15 Best Jose Rizal Quotes

One of the national hero's most iconic portraits

Jose Rizal on a picnic in Paris with friend Juan Luna and wife Paz Pardo de Tavera

While he was living in Europe, Rizal began publishing a series of works including   Noli Me Tangere   and   El Filibusterismo,  which established him as a leading voice for reform in his homeland.

A group photo with Jose Rizal at center

More:   Jose Rizal's First Selfie Has Resurfaced in a Private Collection

A close-up of Jose Rizal

Another close-up of the national hero

An undated photo of jose rizal.

More:   The Tragic Story of Leonor Rivera, Jose Rizal's Most Significant Love and Heartbreak

Jose Rizal with Sixto Lopez in Hong Kong

According to the Presidential Museum and Library, the photograph of Sixto Lopez and Jose Rizal was taken on during Rizal's return from Europe in 1891. Lopez, a relative and a good friend, was also active in the Propaganda Movement.

Rizal, the avid fencer

In the photo, Rizal poses with friends Valentin Venture and Juan Luna in Luna's home in Paris.

Dr. Jose Rizal treating a patient

"Rizal was an eye doctor who received his medical degree from the Universidad Central de Madrid at the age of 23, and pursued further studies in the field of ophthalmology in France and Germany," the Presidental Museum and Library says .

More:   The 5 Timeless Leadership Lessons Everyone Can Learn from Dr. Jose Rizal

Jose Rizal and María de la Paz Pardo de Tavera with friends

Jose Rizal, Trinidad Hermenegildo, Pardo de Tavera, and Felix Pardo de Tavera posing for a Juan Luna portrait

Jose Rizal with Marcelo H. del Pilar and Mariano Ponce

More:   This Is How the World Mourned Jose Rizal

Jose Rizal with Juan Luna and Félix Resurección Hidalgo

Jose Rizal in London

According to historians, Rizal stayed in London for 10 months from May 1888 to March 1889. There, he lived with the Beckett family at 37 Chalcot Crescent in Primrose Hill .

A rare photo of Jose Rizal smiling

The student residents of Casa Tomasina

First row: Silvestra Rivera, Gregoria Peña, Honorio Lasam, Placido; Second row: Standing, Prudencio Ruiz, Simplicio Lopez, Jose Rizal, Antonio Rivera, Julian Afable, Deogracias Duque, child Pelayo Cabrera, Jorge Bauzon, Leoncio Bauzon, Crisanto Aguilar, Pascual Lopez, Sixto Lopez; Third row: seated, Pedro Ferrer, Vicente Gella, Leon Apacible, Mariano Lopez, Galicano Apacible, Jose Ma. Cecillo, Semeon Dadivas, Feliciano Cabrera, Clemente Sol, Florentino Buhay, Pedro Bachine; Fourth row: seated on the floor, Juan Bauzon, Ireneo Afable, Manuel Valois, Simeon Espina.

A rare photo of Rizal's last moments

On the morning of December 30, 1896, Jose Rizal was executed in Bagumbayan, just outside the walled city of Intramuros, on charges of masterminding a rebellion. Read more here.

More:   All the Most Absurd Rumors About Jose Rizal

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Retracing Jose Rizal's Legacy: A Photo Essay

Saturday, march 12, 2016.

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Audio commentary by Ambeth Ocampo, Professor of History, Ateneo de Manila University  

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Transcription of audio:

José Rizal is a national hero of the Philippines. So in a sense, you can have Rizal from womb to tomb, meaning you can be born in a Rizal hospital and when you die, they can put you up in a Rizal funeral home. His monuments are everywhere. Rizal, in the 25 volumes of (his) writing, not just the two novels that he's famous for, defined what it was to become a Filipino and defined what it was to be a nation. It has poetry, it has drawings, it has laundry receipts and lottery tickets. And I'd like to think that José Rizal, like many of his generation who went abroad to study, they learned to love their country more when they were out of it. You miss home, you miss the food, you miss your own language. He worked in the British Library in 1889, was reading 17th century texts about the Philippines, and he realized that the Philippines had a civilization before the Spanish period. Spain is supposed to have brought Christianisation, saved us from damnation, and brought us the alphabet, the wheel, but Rizal discovered that the coming of Spain was actually an intrusion. For the first time, instead of thinking of himself as part of an overseas Spanish empire he saw himself as a son of the Philippines. He was from this island nation and it is rather unfortunate that Rizal did not live to see the nation that he imagined. But his importance lies in the fact that he imagined a nation even before it was born.

– I'm Ambeth Ocampo, professor of history at Ateneo de Manila University. My area of specialization is the late 19th century Philippines.

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Serving you hot topic discussions! Made by Ysa, Emma, and Angel.

A Hero with Many Faces: Discussion of Images of Rizal

by Angela Enriquez, Allysa Florendo, and Emma Peckson August 6, 2021

Introduction

Jose Rizal, unlike most of the national heroes of other countries, was not the leader of our revolution. In fact, some may argue that he was against the idea of armed revolution. One may wonder why so: if Rizal desired the liberation of our nation from colonial rule, why would he be against an effective method of liberating one’s country that has proven successful in many other countries under colonial rule? In order to understand this, we must discuss different images of Rizal that have been proposed throughout Philippine history. In particular, we will discuss three main images that pertain to his perspective on reform versus revolution. Evaluating these different arguments that have been presented to us Filipinos throughout the years may help us to better understand both Rizal as one of our national heroes, and our country, as we continue to revere and venerate him.

Rizal as a Reformist

The first image we will discuss is that of Rizal being a reformist. Renato Constantino is one of the most prominent historians who support this argument, and he writes that Rizal is for reform over revolution. It is for mainly this reason that the Americans, our second major colonizer, sponsored him to be our national hero. 

To understand this argument better, we must discuss the context that shaped Rizal himself, as he is a product of his times. The period in which Rizal lived was a time of major economic reforms under the Spanish colonial government. For the most part of our three centuries under Spanish rule, the system remained the same. However, during the 19th century, several factors, such as the (brief) British occupation of the country, the end of the galleon trade, and the Latin-American revolutions at the time, led to major changes in the country, especially in terms of our economy. As Constantino explains, “material progress set the stage for cultural and social change, among them the cultivation of cosmopolitan attitudes and heightened opposition to clerical control.” Because of these changes, indios and mestizos , especially those who lived around Manila which was the center of our economic activity, were exposed to many more opportunities that could help them move up the socioeconomic ladder. In other words, they could become equal with the Spaniards. This collective desire was the precursor of the formation of our national consciousness. 

As Rizal was an ilustrado , he belonged to the class that shared this desire to become equal with our colonizers. His upbringing and position led him to benefit from the existing structure, and develop a sort of “affection” for the Spanish colonizers. For him, the solution to the existing problems of our country was to elevate the Filipinos closer to the Spaniards; Independence from them was not an option. As Rizal voiced the concerns of his class to become equals with the Spaniards, he spoke as if on the behalf of all indios , despite the major economic and social disparities between them and Rizal. This disparity is apparent even in his writings, as most of the prominent characters in Noli and El Fili were that of the upper to upper-middle class. For example, Ibarra was a Spanish mestizo , and most of the characters he interacted with were part of the principalia . For the characters that belonged to the masses, like Sisa and her sons, their descriptions are rather hazy and much less detailed. Despite this, however, his writings were able to reveal the oppression of the Spaniards, which in turn sparked the growth of our national consciousness. Instead of bringing Filipinos closer to Spain like he initially intended to, his writings ironically gave root to separatism.

Rizal’s opposition to revolt against Spain is made much more clear in his interview with Pio Valenzuela at Dapitan. Here, Valenzuela travels to Dapitan to meet the exiled Rizal, and informs him about the revolution that is to be carried out by the Katipunan. Rizal disapproves of the idea of a “premature revolution.” He advises Valenzuela to “use all precautions to prevent the discovery of the association,” in order to prevent the “premature shedding of blood.” He then tells Valenzuela about his request to volunteer as a military doctor in Cuba, where he can assist the Spanish troops who were handling another revolution (Valenzuela, 1896). It is this very account that Valenzuela gave as testimony during Rizal’s trial, where he was accused of being the leader of the brewing revolution. 

Because of Rizal’s apparent bias to cooperate with the colonizers rather than revolt against them, he was the perfect Filipino role model for our American colonizers to sponsor. It was the Americans in 1946 that initiated the delegation of Rizal as our national hero. It was said that Rizal was chosen over other contestants–– “Aguinaldo too militant, Bonifacio too radical, Mabini unregenerate.” Aside from this, Rizal also fulfilled the other conditions set by the Americans. The hero in question must have been 1) already deceased, 2) not violent, and 3) have had a dramatic death.  Consequently, this decision makes much more sense when we think about Rizal’s advocacies. He never advocated independence nor armed resistance to the colonial government. Instead, he advocated for reforms to be enacted through education and developing the Filipino people. Rizal also believed that liberty could be attained without independence. He says in his trial against the Spaniards that you don’t need to shed blood to have liberty, and instead, it should be gained through developing the individuals of the nation. 

This intentional spotlighting of Rizal by the Americans may be attributed as one of the reasons we did not undergo complete decolonization. Instead, we submitted to another colonizer after our revolution, as Rizal may have wanted. Furthermore, this colonizer is one that did what the Spanish had failed to do, which was to establish infrastructures and systems that could help uplift the nation from within. This is inline with both Rizal’s beliefs and the demands of the La Solidaridad propagandists in Spain.The American narrative aligned nicely with the advocacies of Rizal and his fellow propagandists. Most of the American policies and reforms were related to establishing a formal educational system independent of the friars. During the American colonial period, they continued to paint Rizal as a role model for Filipinos, discussing him in Philippine schools. A textbook from this period entitled Rizal, Educator, and Economist, comments that: “ Rizal intentionally avoided the use of the term independence, perhaps because he honestly believed that independence in its true, real, and strict sense should not be granted to us until we were educated enough to appreciate its importance, and its blessings, and until we were economically self-sufficient.” It was through this veneration and narrative of Rizal along with many other American “investments” in Filipino society that the Philippines submitted to another colonizer after the Philippine Revolution.

Rizal as a Revolutionary

The next image we will discuss is Rizal being a revolutionary. Father John Schumacher was a historian who firmly believed in this argument. He argued that Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere is a catalyst of a revolution . This revolution, however, does not pertain to the Philippine Revolution in 1896. Schumacher states that the revolution which Rizal aimed to achieve was a “moral revolution.” He states that Rizal believed that the Philippines could no longer be in partnership with the Spaniards, as this is the only way for the country to finally be a liberated nation.

Despite knowing that numerous historians believed Rizal was a reformist rather than a revolutionary, Schumacher remained opposed to their views. He believes that there are three factors as to why these writers failed to see it in this perspective. We will discuss each of these three in the following paragraphs.

• “The failure to distinguish between what Rizal (and other Filipinos who shared his ideas) were able to say publicly and what they felt privately.”

Schumacher believed that Rizal was not able to speak about his true thoughts to the public, given the situation he was in. Rizal was being tried by the Spanish colonial government, and therefore, any statements shared or made by him to the public will be used against him. Additionally, Pio Valenzuela, who initially claimed that Rizal was against the revolution, took it back two decades later. He then proceeded to explain that Rizal was not against it, but that he wanted the Katipuneros to be prepared and wait for the right time. Furthermore, Valenzuela also admitted to “touching up” Rizal’s statement back then as again, it may be used as evidence from the Spaniards to put him into prison. (Piedad-Pugay, 2012)

• “The failure to read Rizal’s Noli and his writings in the context of his personal correspondence at the time he was publishing.”

Aside from knowing Rizal’s perspectives based on his writings and novels, we must look into its historical context. While Rizal was composing Noli Me Tangere, he sent private letters to some of his friends with regards to the novel. In 1888 or 1889, Rizal sent a letter to one of his friends that were in Europe stating that his works were meant for the Filipinos and not for the Spaniards. Through studying Rizal’s private thoughts in his letters, we get a better grasp of the entirety of the context behind his mindset, thoughts, and actions.

• “The failure to see the Noli not simply as  an independent work but as part of a well-thought-out long-range plan.” 

The general perception of Noli is that Ibarra is a representation of Rizal, while Elias was a representation of Andres Bonifacio. The former was for reform, while the latter was for revolution. However, at the time when Noli was being created, Rizal did not know who Bonifacio was. Moreover, Schumacher claims that Rizal’s three main publications, Noli Me Tangere, his annotation of Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas of Antonio de Morga, and El Filibusterismo were part of his thought-out plan that would be used to allude to the potential independence of the Filipinos. This thus leads us to Schumacher’s point of Noli, along with Rizal’s other works, being a catalyst of a revolution.

Rizal’s three books have different goals and messages to the Filipino people, and all together, they were to spark the “moral revolution” which would eventually lead to their independence. Noli Me Tangere was mostly used to showcase the situation of the Philippines under Spanish rule. Jose Rizal used the characters of Noli Me Tangere to present the different interactions and situations between Philippine colonial society at that time. An example of this is the interaction between Padre Damaso and Kapitan Tiyago. Kapitan Tiyago only listens and follows instructions given by Padre Damaso. Thus, he shows the interaction between Friars and the Principales during the Spanish rule, and how their decisions mostly benefited themselves at the cost of the Filipinos. Additionally, Crisostomo Ibarra believed that education can end the systemic problems happening in their country. This representation can be connected to the propagandist Ilustrados in La Solidaridad, the Spanish newspaper that Rizal was part of, and held shared beliefs with. With that in mind, we can see how Noli Me Tangere makes clear the problematic colonial system, in order to awaken the Filipinos’ national consciousness.

The next part of Rizal’s plan was to create a novel set in pre-colonial Philippines. His goal for this was to show Filipinos that their culture before the Spanish colonization was already developed, and that it was something to be proud of. Unfortunately, Rizal was unable to write this, given his limited knowledge and the lack of reliable resources on the period. This is why he decided to annotate Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas instead. Morga’s account is what Rizal believed was the most unbiased piece of literature about pre-colonial Philippines at the time. However, Morga was a Spanish colonial official, and as such, he was prone to having several biases. Rizal’s annotations were added to the account in order to correct some of the biases and misconceptions that Morga may have had.  Rizal believed that to find a solution to the corrupt system, we must look back to before the Spanish colonization. If we do so, we can make better judgments in regards to the present. With this, we would be able to determine a solution for the problems in the Spanish colonial Philippines.

El Filibusterismo on the other hand was used to portray solutions, outcomes, and Rizal’s alleged message to the Filipinos. In the novel, Simoun wanted the Kapitan Heneral to enforce repressive policies which would eventually make the Filipinos of all classes revolt against the Spaniards. However, this revolution was unsuccessful because it was done out of Simoun’s desire for personal revenge and through violence. At the end of the book, Padre Florentino then tells Simoun that God does not approve of violence and revenge, which is why the revolution did not work despite Simoun’s good intentions to liberate the Filipino people. He then insinuates that genuine nationalism, love for one’s country, is the answer to being able to combat the corrupt system of Spanish colonial rule.

Rizal’s message to the Filipino people speaks about how we need to remember our roots to become one nation. If we are able to go against our colonizers with the intention of fighting for and with our country, then the Philippines will finally be able to become an independent nation. Therefore, Schumacher’s claim of Noli being a catalyst of a revolution pertains to a “moral revolution.” This “moral revolution” will not only educate the Filipinos but will also change their hearts. This kind of revolution manifests its value throughout Philippine history, especially in the darkest of times. To better understand this, Schumacher references Marcos’ Martial Law. It was during this time that the EDSA Revolution, a peaceful revolution, was successfully carried out by the Filipino people to overthrow the Marcos Regime. Here, around 2 million Filipinos gathered on the street of Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) to protest against the abusive government. In this peaceful revolution, the Filipinos gathered without arms nor weaponry. Instead, they revolted using prayer and a united intention to fight for the rights of the Philippine nation. (Official Gazette, nd) In this sense, Schumacher believes that this is what Rizal was trying to tell the Filipinos: to revolt as a nation without the need for bloodshed.

A revolution is defined to have an effective change within society and has an objective to change the systemic order (National Geographic, 2020). With this in mind, we establish that the “moral revolution” is indeed, a revolution. If the “moral revolution” was carried out during the Spanish colonial period, its intention would be to promote nationalism and love for one’s nation. It is through this developed sense of nationalism that Filipinos may break free from the grip of Spain, thus having a social change in society. Likewise, its objective would also be to eliminate the Spanish rule wherein the friars and colonial government would no longer dictate the political and economic activities in the colony. It is through Rizal’s works and writing that he was able to advocate this type of revolution–– that even without violence, one can be revolutionary just like himself. As Padre Florentino said in the conclusion of El Fili , “revolution is not primarily an armed struggle to shed other people’s blood, but a willingness to risk shedding one’s own blood for the sake of the people.”

Rizal as a Radical

Rizal has now been painted both as a reformist and as a revolutionary by Constantino and Schumacher respectively. Another author who studied Rizal’s life and works bring another opinion to the table, Floro Quibuyen. Quibuyen argues that the dichotomy of revolution and reformation is not mutually exclusive. Given the definition of a separatist of Merriam Webster’s online dictionary, “an advocate of racial or cultural separation,” we posit that Rizal can be positioned in the middle of the two perspectives, reformist and revolutionary.

Quibuyen challenges Constantino’s work and sees that separating the masses from the ilustrados is a flaw that leads to the antagonism of the middle class. He lays out Rizal’s life and work and analyzes them with the concept of hegemony in mind. The main argument is two-fold: the nineteenth-century nationalist project became hegemonic, meaning those in power are given spontaneous consent because of prestige and therefore rule over the masses through both coercion and consent. Quibuyen also asserts that Rizal, through his martyrdom and literary works, became the symbol of the national-popular will; his martyrdom sparked the nationalist movement headed by the Katipunan.

Rizal’s views shifted from reformation to revolution. This is seen in the evolution of the content of his letters to Blumentritt. On the 26th of January 1887, he expressed that attaining independence through peaceful means is nothing but a dream, but it is unwise to separate from Spain. In the same letter, he lists the demands of the Propaganda movement; among these are better education, Filipino government official representatives in the Spanish parliament, and basic human rights (Quibuyen, 1998). Six months later, Rizal wrote again on the 19th of June 1887 to Blumentritt saying 

“I can assure you that I have no desire to take part in conspiracies which seem to be premature and risky in the extreme. But if the government drives us to it, that is to say, when there remains to us no other hope than to seek our ruin in war, when the Filipinos shall prefer to die rather than to endure their miseries any longer, then I too shall advocate violent means.”(Guererro and Rizal, 1963).

 From this, it can be inferred that Rizal no longer believed that campaigning for change would lead to national progress, and their work would all be in vain. The campaign for reform and the struggle for independence are not mutually exclusive, but rather, should be tied as one. The peaceful campaigns for reforms are a tactic in the bigger picture of separatism (Quibuyen, 1998).

The shift of Rizal’s perspective is attributed to his falling out with del Pilar and the Calamba hacienda case with the Dominicans. While del Pilar’s goal was for the expulsion of the friars, Rizal viewed the Spanish colonial system as the problem. After the Manifestation of 1888 (a group of gobernadorcillos presented a petition for the expulsion of the friars that led to the arrest of the petitioners), Rizal realized that campaigning for reform was futile to the goal of independence. On the other hand, the Calamba case was adding fuel to the fire, the Dominican friars were increasing land taxes and fees, which were eventually made unaffordable  by many of the tenants. The Rizal family was one of those who suffered from these abusive taxes. 

The Dominicans were cheating the government of nine-tenths of the revenue that should have been derived from their estate and, at the same time, were regularly collecting an ever-increasing amount of rent, taxes, and fees on land that they, in fact, did not own or had acquired by means of coercive and deceitful land grabbing (Quibuyen, 1998).

Despite being in Europe, Rizal had an active role in the Calamba case, functioning as a sort of “consultant” to his family, through the form of written correspondence. In the hopes of getting fellow tenants of Calamba to follow suit and to get the attention of the government regarding the friars’ abusive/oppressive tax fees, he ushered his family to refuse to pay the friars’ fees. To his surprise, many did follow him and his family’s little act of rebellion, but this led to the persecution of 400 tenants. Because of the increasing pressure going on inside the Propaganda Movement and on his struggling displaced family back in the Philippines, Rizal left the Filipino colony in Madrid to eventually return to the Philippines where he formed La Liga Filipina .

Rizal’s new image, constructed by Quibuyen, presents a separatist version of Rizal. In this image, he is a separatist in the sense that he doesn’t want the Philippines to be independent of Spain, but in the sense that he wants a revolution that is unlike most revolutions; Rizal wanted a revolution without bloodshed, he envisioned a cultural revolution that purposed for the betterment of the Filipino and for the greater goal of independence. In a sense, Quibuyen writes that the separatist Rizal views Revolution and Reformation not as two mutually exclusive paths, but as two complementary parts.

Considering the different images of Rizal depicted throughout history— reformist, revolutionary, and radical–– we can see both the similarities and differences of the three images. The reformist image of Rizal centers on the idea that he wanted the Philippines to be a province of Spain, but at the same time, he wanted the Filipinos to be treated as equals to the Spaniards. The revolutionary image of Rizal however, wanted the Philippines to be a liberal and independent nation, meaning he no longer wanted the Philippines to be under Spanish rule. Finally, the radical image of Rizal is the middle ground between both the reformist and revolutionary image wherein he no longer wanted the Philippines to be a colony of Spain, but he did not necessarily want them to revolt with bloody means. Through this, we can recognize that in the end, Rizal, no matter which perspective we look at, wanted what he felt was best for his country and his people. This is evident through his literary works during the Spanish colonial period and many of his other acts of protest against the colonial government. From this, we can see that Rizal indeed wanted to propose reforms at first. However, after the aforementioned Calamba incident, he decided that reforms alone would not suffice, as the colonial government continued to oppress the Filipinos despite their demands for peaceful reforms. Overall, no matter one’s perspective on the image of Rizal, throughout his life, he continuously advocated ideas of liberty and nationalism to the Filipinos. This in itself proves him to be a great hero of our country–– one that continues to inspire Filipinos to this day.

Primary Sources

Constantino, Renato. 1970. “Veneration Without Understanding.” Dissent and Counter Consciousness. 123-147. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Free Press.

Guerrero, Leon Ma, Carlos Quirino, and Rizal José. The First Filipino. a Biography of José RIZAL BY LEÓN Ma. Guerrero, with an Introduction by Carlos Quirino . Manila: National Heroes Commission, 1963. 

Quibuyen, Floro C. “Toward a Radical Rizal”. A Nation Aborted: Rizal, American Hegemony and Philippine Nationalism . Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1990.

Rizal, Jose. El filibusterismo (Trans. Virgilio S. Almario or Soledad Lacson-Locsin) 

Rizal, Jose. Noli me tangere (Trans. Virgilio S. Almario or Soledad Lacson-Locsin)

Rizal, Jose. 1962. “Historical Events of the Philippine Islands by Dr. Antonio de Morga, published in Mexico 1609, recently brought to light and annotated by Jose Rizal, preceded by a prologue by Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt.” Manila: Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission.

Rizal, Jose. Valenzuela-Rizal Interview. Interview by Pio Valenzula, June 15, 1896.

Schumacher, John, SJ.  “The Noli me tángere,” and “Noli as Catalyst of Revolution”. The Propaganda Movement: 1880-1895. Quezon City: ADMU Press, 1997. pp. 83-104

Secondary Sources

Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “separatist,” accessed August 6, 2021, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/separatist

National Geographic Society. “Revolution.” National Geographic Society, August 10, 2020. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/revolution/ .

Official Gazette. Officialgazette.gov.ph. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/edsa/the-ph-protest/ .

Piedad-Pugay, Chris Antonette. “Jose Rizal and the Revolution.” National Historical Commission of the Philippines, September 18, 2012. https://nhcp.gov.ph/jose-rizal-and-the-revolution/?fbclid=IwAR3Va4IhqjypzsXMnm08gKmIbGqRrONMwr0shtdwakf414tsECSnZX_FxzU .

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• The Life And Legacy Of...

The Life and Legacy of José Rizal: National Hero of the Philippines

Dr. José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines, is not only admired for possessing intellectual brilliance but also for taking a stand and resisting the Spanish colonial government. While his death sparked a revolution to overthrow the tyranny, Rizal will always be remembered for his compassion towards the Filipino people and the country.

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Humble beginnings

José Protasio Rizal Mercado Y Alonso Realonda was born on June 19, 1861 to Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonzo in the town of Calamba in the province of Laguna. He had nine sisters and one brother. At the early age of three, the future political leader had already learned the English alphabet. And, by the age of five, José could already read and write.

Upon enrolling at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila (now referred to as Ateneo De Manila University ), he dropped the last three names in his full name, after his brother’s advice – hence, being known as José Protasio Rizal. His performance in school was outstanding – winning various poetry contests, impressing his professors with his familiarity of Castilian and other foreign languages, and crafting literary essays that were critical of the Spanish historical accounts of pre-colonial Philippine societies.

A man with multiple professions

While he originally obtained a land surveyor and assessor’s degree in Ateneo, Rizal also took up a preparatory course on law at the University of Santo Tomas (UST). But when he learned that his mother was going blind, he decided to switch to medicine school in UST and later on specialized in ophthalmology. In May 1882, he decided to travel to Madrid in Spain , and earned his Licentiate in Medicine at the Universidad Central de Madrid.

Apart from being known as an expert in the field of medicine, a poet, and an essayist, Rizal exhibited other amazing talents. He knew how to paint, sketch, and make sculptures. Because he lived in Europe for about 10 years, he also became a polyglot – conversant in 22 languages. Aside from poetry and creative writing, Rizal had varying degrees of expertise in architecture, sociology, anthropology, fencing, martial arts, and economics to name a few.

His novels awakened Philippine nationalism

Rizal had been very vocal against the Spanish government, but in a peaceful and progressive manner. For him, “the pen was mightier than the sword.” And through his writings, he exposed the corruption and wrongdoings of government officials as well as the Spanish friars.

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While in Barcelona, Rizal contributed essays, poems, allegories, and editorials to the Spanish newspaper, La Solidaridad. Most of his writings, both in his essays and editorials, centered on individual rights and freedom, specifically for the Filipino people . As part of his reforms, he even called for the inclusion of the Philippines to become a province of Spain.

But, among his best works , two novels stood out from the rest – Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo ( The Reign of the Greed).

In both novels, Rizal harshly criticized the Spanish colonial rule in the country and exposed the ills of Philippine society at the time. And because he wrote about the injustices and brutalities of the Spaniards in the country, the authorities banned Filipinos from reading the controversial books. Yet they were not able to ban it completely. As more Filipinos read the books, their eyes opened to the truth that they were suffering unspeakable abuses at the hands of the friars. These two novels by Rizal, now considered his literary masterpieces, are said to have indirectly sparked the Philippine Revolution.

Rizal’s unfateful days

Upon his return to the Philippines, Rizal formed a progressive organization called the La Liga Filipina. This civic movement advocated social reforms through legal means. Now Rizal was considered even more of a threat by the Spanish authorities (alongside his novels and essays), which ultimately led to his exile in Dapitan in northern Mindanao .

This however did not stop him from continuing his plans for reform. While in Dapitan, Rizal built a school, hospital, and water system. He also taught farming and worked on agricultural projects such as using abaca to make ropes.

In 1896, Rizal was granted leave by then Governor-General Blanco, after volunteering to travel to Cuba to serve as doctor to yellow fever victims. But at that time, the Katipunan had a full-blown revolution and Rizal was accused of being associated with the secret militant society. On his way to Cuba, he was arrested in Barcelona and sent back to Manila to stand for trial before the court martial. Rizal was charged with sedition, conspiracy, and rebellion – and therefore, sentenced to death by firing squad.

Days before his execution, Rizal bid farewell to his motherland and countrymen through one of his final letters, entitled Mi último adiós or My Last Farewell. Dr. José Rizal was executed on the morning of December 30, 1896, in what was then called Bagumbayan (now referred to as Luneta). Upon hearing the command to shoot him, he faced the squad and uttered in his final breath: “ Consummatum est” (It is finished). According to historical accounts , only one bullet ended the life of the Filipino martyr and hero.

His legacy lives on

After his death, the Philippine Revolution continued until 1898. And with the assistance of the United States , the Philippines declared its independence from Spain on June 12, 1898. This was the time that the Philippine flag was waved at General Emilio Aguinaldo’s residence in Kawit, Cavite.

Today, Dr. Rizal’s brilliance, compassion, courage, and patriotism are greatly remembered and recognized by the Filipino people. His two novels are continuously being analyzed by students and professionals.

Colleges and universities in the Philippines even require their students to take a subject which centers around the life and works of Rizal. Every year, the Filipinos celebrate Rizal Day – December 30 each year – to commemorate his life and works. Filipinos look back at how his founding of La Liga Filipina and his two novels had an effect on the early beginnings of the Philippine Revolution. The people also recognize his advocacy to achieve liberty through peaceful means rather than violent revolution.

In honor of Rizal, memorials and statues of the national hero can be found not only within the Philippines, but in selected cities around the world. A road in the Chanakyapuri area of New Delhi (India) and in Medan, Indonesia is named after him. The José Rizal Bridge and Rizal Park in the city of Seattle are also dedicated to the late hero.

Within the Philippines, there are streets, towns/cities, a university (Rizal University), and a province named after him. Three species have also been named after Rizal – the Draco rizali (a small lizard, known as a flying dragon), Apogania rizali (a very rare kind of beetle with five horns) and the Rhacophorus rizali (a peculiar frog species).

To commemorate what he did for the country, the Philippines built a memorial park for him – now referred to as Rizal Park, found in Manila . There lies a monument which contains a standing bronze sculpture of Rizal, an obelisk, and a stone base said to contain his remains. The monument stands near the place where he fell during his execution in Luneta.

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Jose Rizal from 12 to 35: Photos of Rizal ‘from cradle to grave’ resurface on the Internet

By Lora Mae U. Reyes Published Sep 17, 2021 3:36 pm Updated Sep 17, 2021 3:44 pm

Filipino historian and leading expert on Jose Rizal Prof. Ambeth R. Ocampo took to Facebook to show the different photos of Jose Rizal starting from his puberty years up to the time of his death—or as what Ocampo called “from cradle to grave.”

The historian and author wrote, “We have photographs of Rizal from 1873, age 12 as a student at the Ateneo Municipal till 1896, to when he was shot dead in Bagumbayan at age 35.”

 He added that he started going through his files from Saturday night to Saturday morning, “cropping and placing the 37 known photos of Rizal in a timeline that would not fit on my computer screen.”

The first set of photos shows the National Hero from 1873 to 1889. “So here is Part 1 covering the years 1873-1889 or from age 12 in Manila to age 28 in Paris.”

Following his first post, Ocampo also uploaded another set of photos from 1889 to 1898. He said, “I found three more Rizal photos and added them to the progression.”

Many netizens expressed their amazement at how Rizal looked in his younger years. 

Check out some photos of Rizal below to see how he looked through the years.

 One netizen asked for proof of Rizal’s underbite as it wasn’t evident in the first set of photographs. However, Ocampo said that “three orthodontists have given their professional opinion on this (underbite) based on the photo of the skull and the profile pics.”

According to Ocampo, this photograph of Rizal was from two paintings by Juan Luna.

Ocampo commented that the first photograph of Rizal was “an artist’s rendition of Rizal walking to Luneta.” He added, “If it was based on a photo, it has not yet surfaced.”

Banner photos from the Presidential Museum and Library PH's Flickr account and from Ambeth Ocampo’s Facebook account. Thumbnail photo from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas via Presidential Museum and Library PH’s Flickr account

TAGS: Jose Rizal history Ambeth Ocampo

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Rizal’s self-portraits late 19th century’s selfies

RIZAL MORE THAN EVER On his 154th birth anniversary Friday, the country’s national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, remains very much a part of not just the Philippine landscape, with major roads across the nation named after him and his monument gracing parks, public schools and plazas, but also an inspiration for the nation. Here, a statue of Rizal in a scholarly pose is outlined against the sky at dusk in Intramuros, Manila. JILSON SECKLER TIU

It may interest the digital generation that Jose Rizal took two selfies without a cell phone or digicam.

He did the next best thing in the late 19th century—he drew himself with a pencil on paper. The first selfie remains unlocated and is believed to have been one of the cultural casualties of the Battle of Manila in 1945. The other is in a museum north of Prague in the Czech Republic.

If Rizal had a cell phone, he would have taken selfies. If Rizal had a cell phone, he would not have churned out the 25 volumes of writing that fueled the academic cottage industries more than a century after his death.

Rizal is perhaps one of the most photographed historical figures of 19th-century Philippines.

From his earliest photograph at age 13, when he was a schoolboy at Ateneo Municipal, to the time he was executed at 35 in Bagumbayan, the national hero left us with visual images from his youth to manhood, from indio to Filipino.

Most reproduced photo

His most reproduced photo, the one from which all Rizal monuments throughout the archipelago are based, was taken by Enrique Debas in Madrid in 1890 when he was 29.

It seems to have been Rizal’s favorite, among a handful of studio portraits taken while he was abroad, so he planned to publish this on the title page of his second novel, “El Filibusterismo” (1891), but he changed his mind to save on printing costs.

While all of Rizal’s photographs are in black and white, we are fortunate that his portrait was painted by his friends Juan Luna, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo and Telesforo Sucgang, providing us with a likeness in color.

Rizal as teenager

What is not well known is that Rizal took two selfies.

The first was drawn sometime in his last years as a high school student at Ateneo Municipal or his early years as a college student at the University of Santo Tomas.

Teenaged Rizal posed shirtless in front of a mirror and drew an idealized self-portrait that has only survived in photographic reproductions because the original was lost or destroyed during the Battle of Manila in 1945.

The second selfie is preserved in the South Bohemian Museum in Ceské Budejovice, in the Czech Republic. The existence of this selfie was first documented by the late former Philippine Ambassador to Switzerland Modesto Farolan in the mid-1960s.

Blumentritt’s collection

In the 1930s, the heirs of Ferdinand Blumentritt sold their father’s collection of Rizaliana to the National Library of the Philippines but kept a few souvenirs. These included the Rizal selfie and a sketch of Blumentritt by Juan Luna.

The Rizal selfie was drawn for Blumentritt sometime in late November or early December 1886 when Rizal was 25 years old.

After completing his medical studies in Madrid, Heidelberg and Paris, Rizal traveled around Europe with his friend Maximo Viola before he returned to the Philippines in the summer of 1887. The itinerary of this tour included five days in Litomerice, then part of Austria.

‘Sketch of myself’

Rizal was to meet his friend Blumentritt face to face for the first time in May 1887 so he sent this selfie ahead of his arrival, in a letter on Dec. 9, 1886, saying:

“Enclosed is a sketch of myself that I am sending you as an advance. It is said that it has a certain resemblance to me, but I am not sure if it really has. As soon as I have a good photograph, I will send it to you. Those that I have are all retouched or badly taken.”

To celebrate the friendship between the Czech Republic and the Philippines, a full documentation of the Blumentritt collection can be made available to Filipino scholars, or perhaps an exhibit of the originals in Manila will materialize soon.

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Retracing Jose Rizal's Legacy: A Photo Essay

Saturday, march 12, 2016.