Tital Rizal

• Rizal's secret mission in Spain

  1882-1885
• Rizal's secret mission


  To observe keenly the life and culture, languages and customs, industries, commerce and government and laws of the European Nations in order to prepare himself in the mighty task of liberating of oppressed people from Spanish tyranny
• Rizal had the approval of his older brother Paciano but no permission and blessings from his parents for his secret departure to Spain
• The people knew Rizal will go to Spain
• People who knew about Rizal's departure

  • Older brother Paciano
  • Uncle Antonio Rivera
  • Sisters Neneng and Lucia
  • Valenzuela family (Capitan Juan, Capitana Sanday, and their daughter Orang)
  • Pedro A. Paterno
  • Mateo Evangelista
  • Jose M. Cecilio
• Jose Mercado


  The name Rizal used
• Rizal departed on board the Spanish steamer Salvadora bound for Singapore


  May 3, 1882
• Captain Donato Lecha


  Ship captain from Austrais, Spain, who befriended Rizal
• Rizal saw a beautiful island and scenic beauty called "Talim Island with the Susong Dalaga" on May 8, 1882
• On May 9, 1882, the Salvadora docked at Singapore, where Rizal registered at Hotel de la Paz and spent two days sightseeing the city
• Rizal saw the famous Botanical Garden, Buddhist Temple, busy shopping district and the statue of Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles (founder of Singapore) in Singapore
• On May 11, Rizal transferred to another ship, the Djemnah, a French steamer, which left Singapore for Europe
• Among the passengers on the Djemnah were British, French, Dutch, Spaniards, Malays, Siamese, and Filipinos (Mr. & Mrs. Salazar, Mr. Vicente Pardo, and Jose Rizal)
• On May 17, the Djemnah reached Point Galle, a seacoast town in southern Ceylon (Sri Lanka) that was picturesque but lonely, quiet and sad
• Colombo, the capital of Ceylon, was more beautiful, smart and elegant than Singapore, Point Galle and Manila
• Aden was hotter than Manila, and Rizal was amused to see camels there
• Ferdinand de Lesseps


  French diplomat-engineer who built the Suez Canal, inaugurated on Nov. 17, 1869
• Rizal reached Naples


  June 11, 1882
• The steamer docked at the French harbor of Marseilles, where Rizal visited the famous Chateau d'If, where Dantes, the hero of The Count of Monte Cristo, was imprisoned

  June 12, 1882
• Rizal left Marseille


  June 15, 1882
• Rizal reached Barcelona


  June 16, 1882
• Las Ramblas was the most famous street in Barcelona
• Amor Patrio


  Rizal's first article written on Spanish soil, a nationalistic essay
• Amor Patrio was published on August 20, 1882 in the Diariong Tagalog, the first Manila bilingual newspaper, under Rizal's pen-name Laong Laan
• Amor Patrio was translated into Tagalog by M.H. Pilar
• Rizal wrote two other articles in Spain: Los Viajes (Travels) and Revista de Madrid (Review of Madrid), the latter written on Nov. 29, 1882
• Rizal enrolled in the Universidad Central de Madrid (Central University of Madrid)


  Nov. 3, 1882
• Rizal had a romance with Consuelo Ortiga y Perez, and on August 22, 1883 he composed a poem entitled A La Señorita C.O.y.P. (To Miss C.O.y.P.)
• In 1882, Rizal joined the Circulo Hispano-Filipino (Hispano-Philippine Circle)
• On Dec. 31, 1882, Rizal personally declaimed the poem "Me Piden Versos" (They Ask Me For Verse)
• In March 1883, Rizal joined the Masonic Lodge called Acacia in Madrid, and his reason for becoming a Mason was to secure Freemasonry's aid in his fight against the friars in the Philippines
• On November 15, 1890, Rizal became master of the Mason, and on February 15, 1892, he was awarded the diploma as Master Mason by Le Grand Orient de France in Paris
• Rizal was very active in Masonic affairs, along with M.H. del Pilar, G. Lopez Jaena, and Mariano Ponce
• After completing his studies in Madrid, Rizal went to Paris and Germany in order to specialize in ophthalmology, as he wanted to cure his mother's eye ailment
• In Berlin, Rizal met and befriended several top German scientists, including Dr. Teodor Jagor, Dr. Adolph B. Meyer, and Dr. Rudolf Virchow
• In Paris, Rizal's friends included Maximo Viola, Señor Eusebio Corominas, and Don Miguel Morayta
• Rizal lived in Paris from November 1885 to February 1886, where he worked as an assistant to the leading French ophthalmologist Dr. Louis de Weckert
• Rizal relaxed in Paris by visiting his Filipino friends, such as the Pardo de Tavera family, Juan Luna, and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo
• Rizal posed for paintings by Juan Luna, including "The Death of Cleopatra" and "The Blood Compact"
• Rizal was a skilled musician who played the flute and composed patriotic songs like "Alin Mang Lahi" (Any Race) and a sad danza called "Deportation" during his exile in Dapitan