Rizal

• Jose Rizal was born on a Wednesday in June 1861 in the lakeshore town of Calamba, Laguna, Philippines
• Jose's father, Francisco Mercado, was born on May 11, 1818, in Binan, Laguna, and became a tenant farmer of Dominican-owned haciendas
• Jose's mother, Dona Teodora Alonzo Realonda, was born on November 8, 1826, in Manila and was his first teacher, educating him in Spanish language and providing advice in rhetoric
• Saturnina, the eldest sibling, married Manuel Hidalgo of Batangas
• Jose had several siblings, including Saturnina, Paciano, Narcisa, Olimpia, Lucia, Maria, Conception, Josefa, Trinidad, and Soledad
• Paciano was a confidant of Jose, encouraged him to go abroad, and supported him in all endeavors
• Narcisa married Antonio Lopez, a school teacher of Morong
• Olimpia married Sylvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph operator from Manila
• Lucia married Mariano Herbosa of Calamba, who was denied a decent Christian burial when he died of cholera in 1889
• Maria married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Binan, Laguna
• Jose, also known as Pepe, lived with Josephine Bracken during his exile and had a son with her who died two hours after delivery
• Josefa, nicknamed Panggoy, died unmarried at the age of 80
• Conception, Jose's sibling, died at the age of three, which was the first sorrow of Jose Rizal
• Trinidad, known as Trining, also died unmarried at the age of 83
• Soledad, the youngest sibling, married Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba
• Ancestral Lineage of Jose Rizal:
• Domingo Lamco: Great-grandfather of Jose on his father's side, a Chinese immigrant from the Eukien City of Changchow
• Ines de la Rosa: A well-to-do Christian girl in Manila who assumed the surname Mercado in 1731, meaning market
• Francisco Mercado: Son of Ines, resided in Binan, elected gobernadorcillo (municipal mayor)
• Cirila Bernacha: Wife of Francisco, a Chinese-Filipino mestiza
• Juan Mercado: Grandfather of Jose, elected gobernadorcillo of Binan, Laguna
• Eugenio Ursua: Great-grandfather of Teodora, with Japanese ancestry
• Cirila Alejandro: A Chinese-Filipino mestiza, had thirteen children with the youngest being Francisco, the father of Jose Rizal
• Benigna is the Filipina wife of Eugenio
• Regina Ursua is the daughter of Eugenio and Benigna
• Manuel de Quintos is a Filipino-Chinese lawyer from Pangasinan
• Brigada de Quintos is the daughter of Manuel and Regina
• Lorenzo Alberto Alonzo is the husband of Brigada, a prominent Spanish-Filipino mestizo from Binan
• Jose Rizal was a product of a mixture of races, with the blood of the East and the West flowing in his veins
• Jose Rizal was a magnificent specimen of Asian manhood
• Jose Protacio Mercado y Alonso Realonda Rizal is the full name of Jose Rizal
• Jose Rizal was a scholar, polymath, poet, essayist, journalist, political activist, and revolutionary.
• The real surname of the Rizal family was Mercado, adopted by Domingo Lamco in 1731
• The surname Rizal was given by the Spanish Alcalde mayor (Provincial Governor) of Laguna, who was a family friend
• The Rizal family preferred to use the old name Mercado, but Jose started using the surname Rizal when the name Mercado was viewed negatively by Spaniards
• In the Rizal family, Jose was the only one who used the surname Rizal
• The family of Rizal came from Calamba, Laguna
• Jose Rizal's house was a two-storey, rectangular structure made of adobe stones and hard wood
• Jose Rizal's family belonged to the Principalia, which was the aristocratic class during the Spanish colonial period
• Jose Rizal's parents were engaged in farming