Life and works of rizal

• Rizal's writings and activism played a significant role in inspiring the Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonial rule.
• Both Don Francisco and Paciano wanted Jose to pursue higher learning in the university, but Dona Teodora, a woman of education and culture, objects to Rizal's desire for University education.
• Jose Rizal was able to enrol at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila due to the influence of his mother.
• Jose Rizal's physical characteristics at the time of his enrolment at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila included being of average height, having a dark complexion, and having black eyes and black hair.
• The system of education given by the Jesuits at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila included religious instruction, academic instruction, and physical education.
• Jose Rizal was not a perfect student when it comes to his studies.
• Dona Teodora knew what happened to the Gom-Bur-Za, and told her husband "Don't send him to Manila again, he knows enough if he gets to know more the Spaniards will cut off his head".
• Rizal took the course on Philosophy and Letters at the University of Santo Tomas due to his father's preference and his own uncertainty as to what career to pursue.
• Rizal excelled in all subjects in the surveying course in Ateneo and obtained gold medals in agriculture and topography.
• Rizal took the vocational course leading to the title of "perito agrimensor" (expert surveyor) in Ateneo from 1877 to 1878.
• Rizal wrote a letter to Ponce, announcing his departure from Brussels and his decision to go to Madrid to present the case to the Supreme Court.
• Upon arrival in Madrid, Rizal immediately sought help from the Filipino colony, the Asociacion Hispano-Filipina, and the liberal Spanish newspaper in securing justice for the oppressed Calamba tenants.
• Rizal and other tenants were forcibly evicted from Calamba by Governor General Valeriano Weyler.
• Rizal attended a social reunion of the Filipinos in Madrid, where Antonio Luna became drunk and insulted Rizal.
• Rizal challenged Wenceslao Retana in a duel after the latter insulted Rizal and his family by writing in La Epoca, an anti-Filipino newspaper, that the Rizal family in Calamba was ejected from their lands because they did not pay their rents.
• Rizal received a letter from Leonor Rivera announcing her coming marriage to Henry Kipping, an Englishman, which was a big blow for him and his heart broke.
• A rivalry emerged among the Filipinos in Madrid, the Rizalistas and Pilaristas, over leadership in the Asociacion Hispano-Filipina.
• Rizal won the election for leadership in the Asociacion Hispano-Filipina, but he did not want to see the Filipinos in Madrid divided so he thought it best to leave the city.
• Rizal took a vacation in the resort city of Biarritz on the French Riviera, where he was a guest of the rich Boustead family at its winter residence, Villa Eliada.
• Rizal was able to finish his second novel, El Filibusterismo, during his vacation in Biarritz.
• Rizal retired from the Propaganda Movement, notifying the Propaganda authorities in Manila to cancel his monthly allowance and devote the money to some better cause, such as the education of a young Filipino student in Europe.
• Rizal was in love with Leonor Rivera, but their engagement did not survive the long-distance romance.
• Rizal courted Consuelo Ortiga, age 18, in Madrid, treating her with special consideration and gallant courtesy.
• Consuelo Ortiga eventually rejected Rizal's attention in favor of Eduardo Lete, a Filipino mestizo from Leyte who later dumped her.
• Rizal fell in love with the view of Japan and its women, particularly with the 23-year-old Seiko Usu, whom he affectionately called O-Sei-San.
• Rizal was attracted to O-Sei-San's regal loveliness and charm, and saw in her the qualities of his ideal womanhood: beauty, charm, modesty, and intelligence.
• Rizal was almost tempted to settle in Japan with O-Sei-San, but his love for his country and fellow Filipinos was greater, and he had to carry on his libertarian mission in Europe, leaving behind the lovely O-Sei-San.
• Rizal compared his love for O-Sei-San to a flower of the chodji that falls from the stem whole and fresh without stripping leaves or withering.
• Rizal won the first prize in a literary contest of Liceo-Artistico-Literario (Artistic-Literary Lyceum) of Manila, a society of literary men and artists, with his poem "A La Juventud Filipino" (to the Filipino youth).
• The friars asked Governor General Terrero to deport Rizal, but the latter refused because there was no valid charge against Rizal in court.
• Rizal was seen as a troublemaker while still in Calamba.
• Rizal was accused of being a German spy, an agent of Bismarck, a Protestant, a Mason, a witch, a soul beyond salvation, etc.
• Rizal's family and friends' safety were risked due to his fight against the Spaniards, hence his decision to sail back to Europe.
• Rizal's plan was to return to Europe via Hong Kong, Macao, Japan and the United States.
• On February 3, 1888, Rizal left Manila for Hong Kong, where he was welcomed by Filipino residents.
• Jose Sainz de Varranda, Terrero's former secretary, followed Rizal in the British colony, and was believed to be commissioned by the Spanish authorities to spy on the hero.
• Rizal engaged in cultural activities in Hong Kong, including observing the Chinese way of celebrating their New Year, Chinese lauriat parties, Chinese theatres, and visiting different churches and cemeteries.
• On February 18 - 21, 1888, Rizal visited Macau, a Portuguese colony near Hong Kong, and stayed at the residence of Don Juan Francisco Lecaros, a former Filipino delegate to the Spanish Cortes.
• Rizal visited different cultural places in Macau, including churches, botanical gardens, theatres and the Macao Casino.
• On February 22, 1888, Rizal left Hong Kong, his destination was Japan.