Rizal's Boyhood

In Calamba, Laguna
19 June 1861
JOSE RIZAL, the seventh child of Francisco
Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso y Quintos,
was born in Calamba, Laguna.
22 June 1861
He was baptized JOSE RIZAL MERCADO at the
Catholic of Calamba by the parish priest Rev.
Rufino Collantes with Rev. Pedro Casaas as
the sponsor.

1864

Barely three years old, Rizal learned the

alphabet from his mother.
1865
When he was four years old, his sister
Conception, the eight child in the Rizal
family, died at the age of three. It was on
this occasion that Rizal remembered having
shed real tears for the first time.

1865 1867
During this time his mother taught

him how to read and write. His

father hired a classmate by the
name of Leon Monroy who, for five
months until his (Monroy) death,
taught Rizal the rudiments of Latin.

At about this time two of his mothers

cousin frequented Calamba. Uncle

Manuel Alberto, seeing Rizal frail in
body, concerned himself with the
physical development of his young
nephew and taught the latter love for
the open air and developed in him a
great admiration for the beauty of
nature, while Uncle Gregorio, a scholar,
instilled into the mind of the boy love for
education. He advised Rizal: "Work hard
and perform every task very carefully;

6 June 1868
With his father, Rizal made a

pilgrimage to Antipolo to fulfill the

vow made by his mother to take
the child to the Shrine of the Virgin
of Antipolo should she and her child
survive the ordeal of delivery which
nearly caused his mothers life.
From there they proceeded to
Manila and visited his sister
Saturnina who was at the time

1869
At the age of eight, Rizal wrote

his first poem entitled "Sa

Aking Mga Kabata." The poem
was written in tagalog and had
for its theme "Love of Ones
Language."

In Bian, Laguna
1870

His brother Paciano brought

Rizal to Bian, Laguna. He
was placed under the
tutelage of Justiniano
Aquino Cruz, studying Latin
and Spanish. In this town
he also learned the art of
painting under the

17 December 1870
Having finished his studies in

Bian, Rizal returned to

Calamba on board the
motorboat Talim. His parents
planned to transfer him to
Manila where he could continue
his studies.

Back in Calamba
1871

His mother was imprisoned in

Sta. Cruz, Laguna for allegedly
poisoning the wife of her
cousin Jose Alberto, a rich
property owner of Bian and
brother of Manuel and
Gregorio.

1872
For the first time, Rizal heard of the

word filibustero which his father

forbid the members of his family to
utter, including such names as Cavite
and Burgos. (It must be remembered
that because of the Cavite Mutiny on
January 20, 1872, Fathers Mariano
Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto
Zamora were garroted at
Bagumbayan Field on February 17,
1872.)