José Rizal Biography

Activist, Journalist, Poet, Doctor (1861–1896)






José Rizal called for peaceful reform of Spain's colonial rule in the
Philippines. After his 1896 execution, he became an icon for the
nationalist movement.
Synopsis

José Rizal was born on June 19, 1861, in Calamba, Philippines. While living in Europe, Rizal
wrote about the discrimination that accompanied Spain's colonial rule of his country. He returned
to the Philippines in 1892, but was exiled due to his desire for reform. Although he supported
peaceful change, Rizal was convicted of sedition and executed on December 30, 1896, at age 35.

Early Life

On June 19, 1861, José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was born in Calamba in the
Philippines' Laguna Province. A brilliant student who became proficient in multiple languages,
José Rizal studied medicine in Manila. In 1882, he traveled to Spain to complete his medical
degree.

Writing and Reform

While in Europe, José Rizal became part of the Propaganda Movement, connecting with other
Filipinos who wanted reform. He also wrote his first novel, Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not/The
Social Cancer), a work that detailed the dark aspects of Spain's colonial rule in the Philippines,
with particular focus on the role of Catholic friars. The book was banned in the Philippines,
though copies were smuggled in. Because of this novel, Rizal's return to the Philippines in 1887
was cut short when he was targeted by police.

Rizal returned to Europe and continued to write, releasing his follow-up novel, El
Filibusterismo (The Reign of Greed) in 1891. He also published articles in La Solidaridad, a
paper aligned with the Propaganda Movement. The reforms Rizal advocated for did not include
independence—he called for equal treatment of Filipinos, limiting the power of Spanish friars
and representation for the Philippines in the Spanish Cortes (Spain's parliament).

Exile in the Philippines

Rizal returned to the Philippines in 1892, feeling he needed to be in the country to effect change.
Although the reform society he founded, the Liga Filipino (Philippine League), supported non-
violent action, Rizal was still exiled to Dapitan, on the island of Mindanao. During the four years
Rizal was in exile, he practiced medicine and took on students.

Execution and Legacy

In 1895, Rizal asked for permission to travel to Cuba as an army doctor. His request was
approved, but in August 1896, Katipunan, a nationalist Filipino society founded by Andres
Bonifacio, revolted. Though he had no ties to the group, and disapproved of its violent methods,
Rizal was arrested shortly thereafter.

After a show trial, Rizal was convicted of sedition and sentenced to death by firing squad. Rizal's
public execution was carried out in Manila on December 30, 1896, when he was 35 years old.
His execution created more opposition to Spanish rule.

Spain's control of the Philippines ended in 1898, though the country did not gain lasting
independence until after World War II. Rizal remains a nationalist icon in the Philippines for
helping the country take its first steps toward independence.

The Death of Jose Rizal

The death of Jose Rizal on December 30, 1896 came right after a kangaroo trial convicted him on all
three charges of rebellion, sedition and conspiracy.

December 30th is the death anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal. The death of Jose Rizal came right after a
kangaroo trial convicted him on all three charges of rebellion, sedition and conspiracy. He was guided to
his cell in Fort Santiago where he spent his last 24 hours right after the conviction. At 6:00 AM of
December 29, 1896, Captain Rafael Dominguez read Jose Rizal’s death sentence and declared that he
will be shot at 7:00 AM of the next day in Bagumbayan.

At 8:00 PM of the same day, Jose Rizal had his last supper and informed Captain Dominguez that he had
forgiven his enemies including the military judges that condemned him to die. Rizal heard mass at 3:00
in the morning of December 30, 1896, had confession before taking the Holy Communion. He took his
last breakfast at 5:30 AM of December 30, 1896 and even had the time to write two letters one for his
family while the other letter was for his brother Paciano. This was also the time when his
wife, Josephine Bracken and his sister Josefa arrived and bade farewell to Rizal.

Rizal who was dressed in a black suit was a few meters behind his advance guards while moving to his
slaughter place and was accompanied by Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade, two Jesuit priests and more soldiers
behind him. The atmosphere was just like any execution by musketry by which the sound of the drums
occupied the air. Rizal looked at the sky while walking and mentioned how beautiful that day was.
Rizal was told to stand on a grassy lawn between two lam posts in the Bagumbayan field, looking
towards the Manila Bay. He requested the firing squad commander to shoot him facing the firing squad
but was ordered to turn his back against the squad of Filipino soldiers of the Spanish army. A backup
force of regular Spanish Army troops were on standby to shoot the executioners should they fail to obey
the orders of the commander.

Jose Rizal’s execution was carried out when the command “Fuego” was heard and Rizal made an effort
to face the firing squad but his bullet riddled body turned to the right and his face directed to the
morning sun. Rizal exactly died at 7:03 AM and his last words before he died were those said by Jesus
Christ: “consummatum est,” which means, “It is finished.”

Jose Rizal was secretly buried in Paco Cemetery in Manila but no identification was placed in his grave.
His sister Narcisa tried to look in every grave site and found freshly turned soil at the Paco cemetery,
assuming the burial site as the area where Rizal was buried. She gave a gift to the site caretaker so as to
mark the grave with RPJ — the initials of Rizal in reverse.