Rizal, José

(1861–1896), Filipino physician, writer, patriot. José Rizal was born in Calamba, Laguna Province, Philippines, on 19 June 1861, to a well-to-do landowner and sugar planter family. Rizal obtained a bachelor of arts degree in 1877 at the Jesuit Ateneo Municipal school in Manila and in 1882 left for Spain to enter the Central University of Madrid, where he studied medicine and philosophy.

In Spain, he committed himself to the reform of Spanish rule in the Philippines. Rizal insisted that it was the religious institutions, specifically the Franciscan, Augustinian, and Dominican friars, that had a stranglehold on the politics and economy of the Philippines. He continued his graduate studies in Paris and Heidelberg and in 1886 published his novel Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not), which reflected the suffering that his fellow citizens had had to endure under the years of Spanish domination. His book wasbanned in the Philippines. He went on to become a leading spokesman for the Philippine reform movement, writing articles for the Filipino propaganda newspaper La Solidaridad in Barcelona. Key among Rizal's political goals were that the Philippines become a province of Spain, that Spanish friars be replaced by Filipino priests, and that both Filipinos and Spaniards be given equal rights and freedoms in the Philippines.

Monument dedicated to the execution of José Rizal in José Rizal Park, Manila, in 1996. (STEPHEN G. DONALDSON PHOTOGRAPHY)

In 1887, Rizal returned to the Philippines but quickly returned to Europe because he believed his prolonged presence would serve only to endanger his family and relatives. In 1891, he wrote another book, El Filibusterismo (The Subversive), which centered on the abuses of the friars in his nation, especially the way they dealt with the landowners, of which Rizal's family was one. Among other things, this book predicted the outbreak of a mass peasant revolution in the Philippines.

After practicing medicine for a short time in Hong Kong, Rizal, against the advice of his parents and friends, returned to the Philippines in 1892 and founded a nonviolent reform society, La Liga Filipina (Philippine League), in Manila and was arrested and deported to Dapitan, Mindanao, in July 1892. For four years he remained in exile, practicing medicine, building a school, planning town improvements, and continuing his writing. In 1896, the Katipunan, a nationalist secret society, launched a revolt against Spain. Although Rizal was in no way affiliated with the society, he was arrested, returned to Manila, falsely tried for treason and complicity with the revolution, and found guilty. On the eve of his execution, confined to Fort Santiago, Rizal wrote Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell). On 30 December 1896, José Rizal was publicly executed by a firing squad in Manila. To this day, José Rizal is celebrated as a national hero in the Philippines. His death inspired Filipino revolutionaries to continue their struggle for independence from Spain.

Craig Loomis

Santos, Alfonso P. (1974) Rizal in Life and Legends. Quezon City, Philippines: National Book Store.

Zaide, Gregorio F. (1984) Jose Rizal: Life, Works and Writings of a Genius, Writer, Scientist and National Hero. Manila, Philippines: National Book Store.