RIZAL’S LIFE: FAMILY, CHILDHOOD, AND EARLY EDUCATION

Rizal came from a mixture of races, his paternal ascendant was Domingo Lamco, a full-blooded
Chinese. He married a wealthy Chinese mestiza, Ines de la Rosa. Domingo Lamco adopted the
surname Mercado, which means “market” in keeping the gubernatorial decree of Narciso
Claveria on the use of Spanish surnames. From the Parian in Manila, the coupled moved to
Biñan, Laguna and became tenants in the Dominican hacienda. Rizal’s father is one of the 14
children of Juan Mercado, paternal grandfather and his grandmother was Cirila Alejandrino, a
Chinese-Filipino mestiza. Juan Mercado became a gobernadorcillo of Biñan Laguna. Rizal’s
maternal great grandfather was Manuel de Quintos, a Chinese mestizo from Lingayen,
Pangasinan. Manuel married Regina Ursua, with a Japanese ancestry to whom they bore the
grandmother of Rizal, Brigida who married Lorenzo Alberto Alonso.

DON FRANCISCO RIZAL MERCADO (1818-1898)

Rizal’s father was born on May 11, 1818 and was the youngest of his 13 siblings. Mercado was a
well-respected man in their home town of Calamba in which citizens made him the their
"cabeza de barangay" (head of town.) He was of part Chinese descent, having been related to a
Chinese entrepreneur by the name of Domingo Lamco. Mercado die shortly after Rizal in the
home of his daughter, Narcisa Rizal in Binondo, Manila on January 5, 1898.

TEODORA ALONSO (1827-1913)

Doña Teodora Alonso was born on November 14, 1827 in Santa Cruz Manila. Her parents were
Lorenzo Alonso, a municipal captain and Brijida de Quintos, an educated housewife and had
four other siblings . It is said that her great grandfather, Eugenio Ursua was of Japanese ancestry
making her of Japanese descent. When Teodora was 20 years old, she married Francisco
Mercado, a native from Binan, Laguna. Together they prospered in Calamba after involving
themselves in business and agriculture. She was known to be a hardworking, intelligent,
business minded woman. She died in 1913 in Manila.

SATURNINA RIZAL (1850-1913)

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Saturnina Mercado Rizal Hidalgo was born in 1818 and was the eldest sister of Jose Rizal. She
had five children together with husband Manuel T. Hidalgo and died the same year as her
mother in 1913.

PACIANO RIZAL (1851-1930)

General Paciano Mercado Rizal aka "Lolo Ciano" was the only brother of Jose Rizal. He was born
in 1851 and studied in Biñan later attending school at the Colegio de San Jose in Manila. After
the execution of his brother, he joined in the Philippine Revolution where he rose up to the
ranks of a General. He later married Severina Decena of Los Banos and had two children of
which one died at an early age. Paciano passed away in 1930.

NARCISA RIZAL (1852-1939)

Narcisa Rizal Lopez was born in 1852 and was the one who found the unmarked grave of her
brother, Jose in the abandoned Old Paco Cemetery. Narcisa married Antonio Lopez who was a
teacher and musician from Morong, Rizal. She died in 1938.

OLYMPIA RIZAL (1855-1887)

Olympia Rizal Ubaldo was born in 1855. She married Silvestre Ubaldo and together they had
three children. She died in 1887 from childbirth when she was only 32 years old.

LUCIA RIZAL (1857-1919)

Lucia Rizal Herbosa was born in 1857. She married Mariano Herbosa and had 5 children
together. In 1889 Mariano died due to an epidemic but was denied a Christian burial. This was
due to the fact that he was the brother in law of Jose Rizal. This showed the beginning of the
persecution of the Rizal family by Spanish friars. Lucia died in 1919.

MARIA RIZAL (1859-1945)

Maria Cruz Rizal was born in 1855. She married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan, Laguna and
together they had 5 children. Mauricio Cruz, one of Maria's children became a student of Jose
Rizal in Dapitan and was known to be one of his uncle's favorites. Maria was a known recipient
of many od Jose's letters during his lifetime. Maria died in 1945.

JOSE RIZAL Jose Protacio Rizal was the second son and the seventh child. He was executed by
the Spaniards on December 30,1896.

CONCEPCION RIZAL (1862-1865)

Concepcion Rizal was born in 1862. Concepcion did not live very long as she died at the age of 3
in 1865.

JOSEFA RIZAL (1865-1945)

Josefa Rizal was born in 1865. She was unmarried lived together with sister Trinidad until death.
Josefa was said to have suffered from epilepsy. She died in 1945.

TRINIDAD RIZAL (1868-1951)

Trinidad Rizal was born in 1868. She remained unmarried and lived together with her sister
Josefa. Trinidad was the one who received an alcohol lamp from brother Jose, in which he
secretly hid the "Last Farewell" better known as "Mi Ultimo Adios," a poem Rizal wrote on the
eve of his death in 1896. Trinidad died in 1951, outliving all her siblings.

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SOLEDAD RIZAL (1870-1929)
Soledad Rizal Quintero was born in 1870 making her the youngest of the Rizal siblings. She
married Pantaleon Quintero and together they had 5 children. Soledad died in 1929.

Jose Rizal (Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonso Realonda) was born on June 19, 1861 at
Calamba, Laguna. According to some readings, his mother nearly died during his delivery
because of his big head. Three days after his birth, Rizal was baptized on June 22 of the said year
with the name Jose Rizal Mercado at the Catholic church of Calamba by the parish priest Rev.
Rufino Collantes. He was the seventh child of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso y
Quintos. During 1865-1867, his mother taught him how to read and write. At the age of three,
Rizal mastered and learned the alphabet taught by his mother. At a very young age, he has
shown great interest in reading. He enjoyed reading books in their library at home, with his
mother who acts as his reading teacher and a critic. At this time, he also learned how to pray
and even read the bible.

When Jose Rizal grew older, his parents acquired private tutors to give him lessons at home in
preparation for his formal education. One of them was Leon Monroy, a classmate of his father
who taught him the rudiments of Latin. At about this time, his mother’s cousin, Uncle Manuel
Alberto, who frequently visited the family in Calamba, was worried about his nephew’s physical
development. He then taught Rizal to develop the skills in swimming, fencing, wrestling and
other sports, while Uncle Jose taught him to love and admire the beauty of nature. On the other
hand, Uncle Gregorio, a scholar, has instilled in Rizal’s mind the love for education and its
importance, the value of hard work, to think for himself, and to observe his surroundings
carefully. When he was four years old, his sister Concepcion, the eighth child in the Rizal family,
died at the age of three. This was the first time he cried as a young boy. As sad as he was, the
parish priest of Calamba, Father Leoncio Lopez, helped Rizal understand the philosophy of life
and learned the value of scholarship and intellectual honesty. Rizal, in his childhood, used to
take long rides through all the surrounding country by riding his pony that his father gave him.
Among his pets were doves and a dog.

Owing to the continuous teaching of Doña Teodora, Rizal was persuaded to express his feelings
through verses. He was able to write his first poem when he was eight years old. The poem was
entitled “Sa Aking Mga Kababata” (To My Fellow Children), which showed that Rizal, even at a
young age, already had love for his country. Here, he similarly incorporates the love for the
native language with God’s gift of freedom. He compared his native language or Tagalog to
Latin, English and Spanish. Tagalog, like any other languages, had its own alphabet and system
writing, which according to Rizal, disappeared because they were neglected or ignored. With
this, he encourages his fellow children to love their native tongue. Then, after Rizal’s tutor Leon
Monroy died, his parents decided to transfer Rizal to a private school in Biñan, Laguna. He was
accompanied by his older brother Paciano, who acted as his second father during his school
days in Biñan. The school was then supervised by Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz.

Rizal’s first day of class in the school was not easy. The maestro asked him if he knows how to
speak Latin or Spanish, but in response, he only knew a little of the languages. As a result, one
of his classmates named Pedro, the son of the maestro, laughed at him. Pedro was always
bullying him that eventually resulted to a brawl. But knowing Rizal’s acquired knowledge and
skill in the art of wrestling from his Tio Manuel, he defeated Pedro. After the said incident, Rizal
became popular in his class. Here, Rizal was able to show his intellectual superiority. He excelled
in his class in Latin, Spanish and other subjects in the curriculum for elementary pupils. Because
of this, many of the students became jealous to him and do everything to destroy Rizal’s name
to Maestro Cruz. While Rizal’s interest in painting was nurtured early on by an old painter

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named Juancho of Biñan. During this time, knowledge was taught in the minds of the students
by doing tedious memorization method. Despite some lack of the elementary education in
Spanish system, Rizal was able to have the needed instruction preparatory for college work in
Manila.