Review Materials

• Dr. Jose P. Rizal completed his medical course in Spain and was conferred the degree of Licentiate in Medicine by the Universidad Central de Madrid.
• Jose was chosen by his mother who was a devotee of the Christian saint San Jose (St. Joseph).
• Protacio comes from Gervacio P which come from a Christian calendar.
• Mercado was adopted in 1731 by Domingo Lamco (the paternal great-great grandfather of Jose Rizal) which the Spanish term mercado means ‘market’ in English.
• Rizal was from the word ‘Ricial’ in Spanish means a field where wheat, cut while still green, sprouts again.
• Alonzo was the old surname of his mother.
• Y means “and”.
• Realonda was used by Doña Teodora from the surname of her godmother based on the culture by that time.
• Jose Rizal was born in the lakeshore town of Calamba, Laguna on June 19, 1861.
• Rizal was baptized in the Catholic church three days after his birth.
• Father Rufino Collantes, a Batangueño, the parish priest who baptized Rizal, was Rizal’s godfather.
• Father Pedro Casanas, Rizal’s godfather, was a native of Calamba and close friend of the Rizal family.
• Lieutenant-General Jose Lemery was the governor general of the Philippines when Rizal was born.
• Rizal's knowledge of foreign languages enabled him to read historical documents and books in languages in which they were originally written.
• Rizal is our greatest hero because, as a towering figure in the Propaganda Campaign, he took an “admirable part” in that movement which roughly covered the period from 1882-1896.
• Rizal’s writings contributed tremendously to the formation of Filipino nationality.
• Immediately after Rizal’s execution, the Spanish spectators shouted “Viva España!” “Muerte a los Traidores” (“Long Live Spain! “Death to the Traitors!”) and the Spanish Military Band, joining the jubilance over Rizal’s death, played the gay Marcha de Cadiz.
• No single person or groups of persons were responsible for making Rizal the Foremost National Hero of the Philippines.
• Rizal becomes the greatest Filipino hero because no Filipino has yet been born who could equal or surpass Rizal as “a person of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger, or fortitude in suffering.”
• By Rizal’s writings, which awakened Filipino nationalism and paved the way for the Philippine Revolution, he proved that “pen is mightier than the sword”.
• Father Mariano Dacanay, a Filipino priest-patriot, gave the title Ultimo Adios (Last Farewell) and under such title the poem was published for the first time in La Independencia (General Antonio Luna’s newspaper) on September 25, 1898.
• Rizal himself, his own people, and the foreigners all together contributed to make him the greatest hero and martyr of his people.
• Rizal is the greatest Filipino hero that ever lived because he is “a man honored after death by public worship, because of exceptional service to mankind”.
• Don Francisco Mercado, born in Biñan, Laguna on May 11, 1818, studied Latin and Philosophy at the College of San Jose in Manila, became a tenant-farmer of the Dominican-owned hacienda, was a hardy and independent-minded man, and died in Manila on January 5, 1898, was Rizal’s father.
• Doña Teodora Alonso Realonda, born in Manila on November 8, 1826, was educated at the College of Santa Rosa, a well-known college for girls in the city, was a remarkable woman, possessing refined culture, literary talent, business ability, and the fortitude of Spartan women, and died in Manila on August 16, 1911.
• At the age of eight, Rizal wrote his first dramatic work which was a Tagalog comedy.
• At the age of three, Rizal began to take part in the family prayers.
• At the age of five, Rizal began to make sketches with his pencil and to mould in clay and wax objects which attracted his fancy.
• Maestro Lucas Padua was Rizal’s second tutor.
• Maestro Celestino was Rizal’s first private tutor.
• When Rizal was five years old, he was able to read haltingly the Spanish family bible.
• Tio Jose Alberto, who studied for eleven years in a British school in Calcutta, India, inspired Rizal to develop his artistic ability.
• Hereditary influence, environmental influence, and the aid of Divine Providence influenced the hero’s boyhood.
• Father Leoncio Lopez, the old and learned parish priest of Calamba, fostered Rizal’s love for scholarship and intellectual honesty.
• Leon Monroy, a former classmate of Rizal’s father, became Rizal’s tutor that instructed Jose in Spanish and Latin.
• Rizal's mother related that she gathered all the children at the house to pray the Angelus at nightfall.
• The Story of the Moth made the profoundest impression on Rizal, dying a martyr to its illusions.
• Tio Gregorio, a book lover, intensified Rizal’s voracious reading of good books.
• Rizal's earliest memory was of a nocturnal walk in the town, especially when there was a moon.
• Tio Manuel, a husky and athletic man, encouraged Rizal to develop his frail body by means of physical exercises.