THE LIFE, WORKS AND

WRITINGS OF RIZAL
Saturday, 4:00PM-7:00PM
Bernadette B. Casim-Begornia
LESSON 3
EDUCATION IN MANILA
Don Francisco initially wanted Jose Rizal to study at the College of San Juan de
Letran, a Dominican school where the latter passed the entrance examination but
the former later decided to send him to Ateneo Municipal for a six-year program,
Bachiller en Artes (Bachelor of Arts) where Rizal took the entrance exam on June
10, 1872 – four months after the GomBurZa martyrdom. He was, however, first
rejected for his late registration, for his being sickly and for his being undersized at
11 years of age but later admitted on the account of his older brother’s
intervention. A former assistant to the slain Father Jose Burgos [of GomBurZa],
Paciano implored Manuel Xerex Burgos to negotiate which ultimately got Jose
Rizal admitted using such name on Paciano’s advice fearing that his younger
brother might get into trouble if people knew they were brothers due to his known
links with one of the three priests executed, Father Jose Burgos.
Ateneo Municipal’s Jesuit system of education during Rizal’s time was more
advanced than other schools and known to have the finest education for
boys with its rigid discipline and religious instruction that shaped the
students’ character. Attending masses in the morning was obligatory and
each class started and ended with prayers.

To encourage the spirit of competition, Ateneo divided its students into two:
the Romans comprised of students boarding at Ateneo and the
Carthaginians who were non-boarding ones. Despite lagging behind at the
beginning, Rizal turned into an “emperor,” for becoming the most
outstanding student only after a month.
Rizal continually demonstrated academic excellence when he studied
at Ateneo from 1872 to 1877 earning the degree Bachiller en Artes with
the highest honors. He was then sent by his father to the University of
Sto. Tomas, despite his mother’s initial fear of fate resembling that of
the GomBurZa. The men in the family prevailed and during his
freshman year at UST, Rizal studied Philosophy and Letters while doing
a vocational course at Ateneo that eventually awarded him the title,
perito agrimensor or expert surveyor. During his sophomore year, Rizal
shifted to Medicine due to his mother’s failing eyesight and the Rector
of Ateneo, Father Pablo Ramon’s advice for him to take up a medical
course.
Nevertheless, his academic performance at UST was not as remarkable as that in
Ateneo and this was attributed to the Dominican professors’ hostility towards him,
outdated and repressive method of instruction, and discrimination against Filipino
students. All the same, Rizal was still one of the seven out of the initial batch of 24 that
made it to his last year at UST where he was elected for different posts in at least two
different organizations, where he was involved in a number of scuffles, and where he
fell in love with three women: with “Miss L” who was fair and had seductive eyes but a
romance that did not develop as Rizal was still unable to move on from the memory of
Segunda Katigbak, his first sweetheart; with Leonor Valenzuela who was towering and
well-mannered and with whom Rizal sent love notes in invisible ink made out of a
combination of salt and water rendering texts legible only when placed over a candle or
lamp; and with Leonor Rivera who was frail but pretty and with whom Rizal was
engaged without his parents knowing.
In 1882, Rizal who himself experienced Spanish
brutality when a Guardia Civil lieutenant struck him
with a sword and faced injustice first-hand when
nothing came out of his complaint of the incident,
entered into a pact with his older brother, Paciano to
complete his medical education in Europe while
preparing oneself for the greater mission of setting
the country free from Spanish tyranny.
EDUCATION IN EUROPE
Despite the knowledge of a few individuals that included
Paciano, two of his sisters, his fiancée’s father, and Pedro
Paterno [among others], Rizal’s departure for Spain was
not known to his parents, to Leonor Rivera [his fiancée],
and to the Spanish authorities. He, in fact, just penned a
farewell letter to his parents and to Leonor, then departed
on board a Spanish steamer, Salvadora on May 3, 1882
registering Jose Mercado on his travel documents.
Rizal’s destination was Barcelona, Spain where he arrived during the summer
on June 16, 1882. Rizal initially considered it to be ugly with filthy, space-
deprived hotels, and unwelcoming people only because he happened to stay in
a cheap hotel upon his arrival but this later changed into a notion of a great city
with the impression of freedom and liberalism, and home to people who were
broad-minded, hospitable, and courageous. This is where he was welcomed by
his former classmates at Ateneo, where he was toured around historical sites,
and where he wrote the essay, El Amor Patrio (Love of Country) published on
August 20, 1882 in Diariong Tagalog with Laong Laan as his pen name. Rizal,
while in Barcelona, was informed of a cholera outbreak in Manila and the
provinces as well as his fiancée, Leonor’s sadness that resulted into her losing
weight.
From Barcelona, Rizal moved to Spain’s capital, Madrid to
finish Medicine at Universidad Central de Madrid where he
also enrolled in Philosophy and Letters on November 3,
1882. Apart from both, he likewise took lessons in
painting and sculpture, attended classes in French,
English, and German, enrolled in fencing, and studied
Italian – telling family in Calamba, through a letter that in
two months, he’d be able to speak the language.
Despite belonging to the principalia of Calamba, Rizal lived a frugal life in Madrid
budgeting his funds with second-hand book purchases as he liked to spend his
leisure time reading consequently creating a personal library in his boarding house.
Nevertheless, shortly after being conferred with the degree Licentiate in Medicine on
June 21, 1884 rendering him a full-fledged physician and granting him medical
practice, Rizal ended up broke on June 24 attending classes and taking examinations
in Greek, Latin, and world history and winning gold in the former while earning
“excellent” in the latter on an empty stomach. He was only able to have a meal
[dinner] that day as he was invited as a guest speaker in a banquet to honor
compatriots. This was reflective of the financial difficulty faced by Rizal’s family in
Calamba that resulted from drought and locusts, compounded by the increased
rentals of the Dominican-owned hacienda rented and farmed by Rizal’s family.
While studying in Madrid, Rizal met with fellow Filipinos who organized
informal programs which included poetry-reading and debates. These
Filipinos who were enlightened ones were known as the ilustrados that
periodically visit Don Pablo Ortiga y Rey, former Manila mayor whose
daughter, Consuelo caught the attention of Rizal yet decided against
pursuing her as he’s already engaged with Leonor Rivera. He, however, in
1883 penned a poem for her called, A Señorita C.O.y R. which stands for
Consuelo Ortiga y Rey. In one of the ilustrados’ meeting at Pedro Paterno’s
residence in Madrid on January 2, 1884, Rizal suggested writing a novel
about the Philippine society. Despite the group’s approval, Rizal ended up
single-handedly writing the first half of Noli Me Tangere in Madrid and its
second half in Berlin, Germany.
By June 19, 1885, Rizal obtained the degree Licenciado en
Filosofia y Letras (Licenciate in Philosophy and Letters)
granting him the qualification to be a Humanities professor in
any Spanish university. By June 25, he was invited to speak
for a couple of artistic achievements in a banquet celebrating
Juan Luna whose “Spoliarium” won first prize and Felix
Hidalgo whose “Christian Virgins Exposed to the Populace”
won second prize in the National Exposition of Fine Arts in
Madrid.
By October 1885, Rizal stayed in Paris, France to specialize on
ophthalmology and here he apprenticed under Dr. Louis de Weckert, a
leading French ophthalmologist. When he’s not doing his assistant’s
work, he visited friends like Juan Luna in his studio where he got to help
by modelling for Luna’s several paintings. By February 1886, Rizal left
Paris for Heidelberg, Germany where he worked at a University Eye
Hospital under expert German ophthalmologist, Dr. Otto Becker and
attended lectures by other distinguished German eye experts. In between
this pursuit for expertise, Rizal played chess and drank beer with German
students, went sightseeing the Heidelberg’s scenic spots, and visited its
old churches among others.
By November 1, 1886, Rizal arrived in Berlin, Germany from Dresden aiming at: 1)
advancing knowledge on ophthalmology, 2) expanding sciences and languages’
studies, 3) observing German political and economic conditions, 4) associating
with German scientists and scholars, and 5) publishing his novel, Noli Me Tangere.
His stay in Berlin, afforded him meetings and friendships with famous German
personalities who were scholars, historians, professors, scientists like Dr. Feodor
Jagor who authored, “Travels in the Philippines,” a book that Rizal read in
Calamba, and anthropologists working on Philippine culture. He also mastered
German to have written a paper called Tagalische Verkunst (Tagalog Metrical Art)
and translated popular works. He also worked as an assistant to Dr. Schweigger
in his clinic while he attended lectures in the University of Berlin at night and took
private French lessons.
However, despite being prudent with his finances, by winter of the
same year in Berlin, Germany, Rizal ended up living in poverty again in
Europe, the first time being in Madrid, Spain. Unable to pay his landlord,
Rizal pawned the diamond ring given to him by his eldest sister
Saturnina. The ilustrado in Europe from the principalia of Calamba had
to eat one meal a day of bread with water or cheap vegetable soup. He
had to do his own laundry being unable to afford to pay for it. Rizal’s
health eventually deteriorated and he feared of contracting
tuberculosis. Despite all these, he completed his Noli Me Tangere which
he published on March 21, 1887 with his friend and travel companion,
Maximo Viola’s financial help.
Paciano finally sent 1000 pesos which Juan Luna in Paris forwarded
to Rizal in Berlin where 300 was given to Viola for the sum loaned in
publishing Noli Me Tangere. By May 13, 1887 – Rizal and Viola
arrived in Leitmeritz, Bohemia in Czechoslovakia to meet the former’s
friend, Prof. Ferdinand Blumentritt who introduced both to his family.
The duo then proceeded to Prague carrying recommendation letters
from Prof. Blumentritt to Dr. Willhomm who was a natural history
professor at the University of Prague. Both visited another city before
arriving in Vienna, Austria where they met one of Europe’s greatest
novelists and a couple of Austrian scholars.
Both also visited the city’s churches, museums, and art galleries
among others. The two carried on with their trip which included
Salzburg in Austria, Munich and Nuremberg in Germany, and Geneva
in Switzerland where news of Northern Luzon’s Igorots in scanty
clothing and their unsophisticated weapons exhibited in the 1887
Madrid Exposition and subjected to mockery by the Spaniards
reached them.
When Viola returned to Barcelona, Rizal went to Italy on June 24,
1887 and toured around Turin, Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, and
Vatican.
THAT'S ALL
FOR TODAY!