Jose Rizal
Life in Spain
But as God has not made anything useless
In this world, as all beings fulfill obligations
Or a role in the sublime drama of Creation, I
Cannot exempt myself from this duty, and
Small though it be, I too have a mission to
Fill, as for example:
Alleviating the sufferings of my fellow men.
I realize that all these mean sacrifices , and
Terrible ones. I imagine the pain which I
Must give you, but I feel something that
Obliges and impels me to leave. I shall thrive
With faith, and I shall win or lose…God’s will
Be done
Paciano
Rizal’s older brother
Leonora Rivera
Departure for Spain
Rizal used the name Jose
Mercado, a cousin from Binan.
He wrote a farewell letter to his parents
And another one for LeonorRivera.
May 3, 1882 he boarded the Spanish
Steamer Salvadora bound for
Singapore.
On May 9, 1882 the Salvadora arrived in Singapore.
There Rizal saw a modern city for the first time. He was intensely interested
in the improvements. Especially did the assured position of the natives,
confident in their rights and not fearful of the authorities, arouse his admiration.
Great was the contrast between the fear of their rulers shown by the Filipinos
and the confidence which the natives of Singapore seemed to have in their
government.
Rizal registered in Hotel de la Paz and spent two days on sightseeing in
Singapore which was then an English colony. He saw the famous Botanical
Garden, the beautiful Buddhist temples, the busy shopping district, and the
Statue of Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles (founder of Singapore).
On May 11, 1882 Rizal boarded Djemnah, a French steamer, to continue his
Voyage to Spain.
It was a larger and cleaner vessel which carried more passengers. Among the
Passengers were British, French, Dutch, Spaniards, Malays, Siamese, and
Filipinos.
* Rizal’s sketch of the passengers of the French steam liner
On May 17, Rizal arrived in Point Galle (Punta de Gales), a seacoast town in
Southern Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).
The next day, the French liner left Pointe Galle for Colombo, the capital of
Ceylon.
From Colombo, the voyage continued crossing the Indian Ocean to the Cape of
Guardafui, Africa.
The next stopover is in Aden where
Rizal went sightseeng.
From Aden, the voyage went on to
The city of Suez, the Red Sea terminal
Of the Suez Canal. Upon arrival, Rizal
Went sightseeing just like an ordinary
Tourist.
It took five days to traverse the Suez Canal. Then on June 7, Rizal arrived in
Port Said, the Mediterranean terminal of the Suez Canal. Rizal landed to go
Sightseeing and he was fascinated to hear the multi-racial inhabitants .
From Port Said, the Djemnah proceeded on its way to Europe. On June 11
Rizal reached Naples. He went around the city and he was fascinated by the
Sights such as Mount Vesuvius, the Castle of St. Elmo, and other historic sights
Of the city.
On June 12, the steamer docked at the French harbor of Marseilles. He stayed
For two days there enjoying the sights such as visiting the famous Chateau d’if.
On June 15, Rizal left Marseilles by train for Spain. He crossed the Pyrenees and
stopped for a day at the frontier town of Port Bou.
After the passport inspection at Port Bou, Rizal continued his trip by rail, finally
reaching Barcelona on June 16, 1882.
His first impression of Barcelona was unfavorable. He thought of it as an ugly,
dirty and its residents are inhospitable. Later, he changed his impression and
liked the city. He found it as a great city, with an atmosphere of freedom and
liberalism. He also found its people were open-hearted, hospitable, and courageous.
Filipinos in Barcelona were some of his classmates in Ateneo, welcomed him.
They gave him a party at café Plaza de Cataluña. After toasts, Rizal in turn gave
them the latest news and gossips in the Philippines.
Rizal enrolled in the Universidad Central de Madrid in two courses:
-Medicine
-Philosophy and Letters.
Life in Madrid
November 3, 1882
Rizal enrolled in the
Universidad Central de Madrid
in two courses:
-Medicine
-Philosophy and Letters.
Saturday evenings: visited the home of Don Pablo Ortiga y Rey who live with his son and daughter.
+Studied painting and sculpture in the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernand;
+Took lessons in french, German, and English under Private instuctors
+Assiduously practised fencing and shooting in the Hall of Ams of Sanz y Carbonell.
Leisure time: reading and writing at
his boarding house of Paterno bothers
(Antonio, Maximonio and Pedro)
Summer twilights: he sipped coffee
and fraternized with the students
from Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, etc.,
at the Antigua Café de Levante.
Saturday evenings: visited the
home of Don Pablo Ortiga y Rey
who lives with his son and
daughter.
August 22, 1883- Rizal composed a lovely poem to Consuelo(Don Pablo’s Daughter) entitled “ A La Senorita C. O. y P.
Romance with Consuelo Ortiga y Perez
August 22, 1883Rizal composed a lovely poem to
Consuelo(Don Pablo’s Daughter)
entitled “ A La Senorita C. O. y P.
Rizal backed out for two reasons:
- He was still engaged to Leonor Rivera
-His friend and co-worker in the
Propaganda Movement,
Eduardo de Lete, was madly inlove
with Consuelo
“They Ask Me Favor For Verses.”
In 1882, shortly after his arrival in Madrid, Rizal joined the Circulo Hispano- Filipino,
a society of Spaniards and Filipinos.
“Me Piden Versos”; he pesonally declaimed during the New Year’s Eve reception
of the Madrid Filipinos held in the evening of December 31, 1882.
THEY ASK ME FOR VERSES
They ask me to play on a lyre
That long has been still and decayed,
But never a note have I played,
Nor can I the Muse re-inspire.
She chats without reason or fire
Until she has tortured my brain.
She chuckles to jeer at my pain;
She has mocked me the while I lamented.
In my soul, lonely, sad, and tormented,
There once was a time, it is true-Neither pleasure nor sorrow remain.
A time that, alas, has departed.
When friends who were generous-hearted,
Applauded the verse I could do.
Of those happy days but a few
Obscured recollections yet stay,
As after some high holiday,
Still linger mysterious sounds;
Or, after the concert resounds,
The after tones whisper away.
For I am a plant immature,
Torn out of the Orient where
The perfumes sleep on the air
And life is a dream to allure.
Ah, memories ever endure,
My Country, of songs taught to me
By warbling birds from the tree,
The waterfall's silvery roar,
And out on the far-reaching shore,
The moan of the sounding sea.
While yet I was merely a child
I knew how to smile at your sun,
And inside my breast had begun,
Like volcanic fires to burn wild,
The desire that the verses complied
By a poet's keen vigorous mind,
Might cry to the swift moving wind;
"Speed away, and sing to proclaim
To the furthermost zones, of Her fame.
In earth and in heaven enshrined!"
I left Her, my Motherland home,
A tree stripped of leaves and turned dry.
Now gone are the carols that I
Once sang, e'er I started to roam
And churned the vast ocean's white foam,
To escape from my dread destiny:
Too foolish as yet to foresee
That instead of the good which I sought,
I should plow from the ocean waves naught
But a specter of death haunting me.
For all of my dream laden hours,
Love, eagerness, castles in air,
Beneath the blue skies I left there
In that faraway region of flowers.
Ah, do not appeal to my powers
To sing about love, for, like lead,
My heart is weighed down, and in dread
I roam through this waste without peace;
The pangs in my soul never cease,
And all inspiration is dead.
Rizal as a book lover
Rizal built a fair sized private library
Book Collection
- The Bible
- Hebrew grammar
- Lives of president of U.S from Washington to Johnson
- Complete works of Voltaire(9 volume)
- Complete works of Horace(3 volume)
- Complete works of C. Bernard(16 Volume)
-History of French Revolution
- The Wandering Jew
- Ancient Poetry
- Works of Thucydides
- The byzantine Empire
- Medicine books
- The characters by La Bruyere
- Philosophy
- The Renaissance
- Languages
- Uncle tom’s cabin
- History
- Works of Alexander Dumas
- Geography
- Louis XIV and his court
- Arts and sciences
Rizal’s favorites books. Greatly affected him and aroused his sympathy for
opressed and unfortunate people.
Rizal’s first visit to Paris(1883)
- June 17 to august 20, 1883
- Hotel de Paris on 37 rue de maubange
124 rue de Rennes in Latin quarter---much cheaper
Rizal’s primary purposes:
To improved his mind by closely observing the French
way of life and spending many hours at the museum,
the world famous Louvre, botanical gardens, the libraries
and art galleries and the hospitals.
Laennec’s hospital and Louvre
Madeleine church
Luxembourg garden and the Library
Rizal as a Mason
Rizal was impressed by the way the
Spanish mason openly and freely criticized
the government policies and lambastated
the friars.
March 1883, he joined the Masonic lodge
“Acacia” in Madrid.
Purpose: to secure free masonry’s aid
in his fight against friars in the Philippines.
He then transferred to logde solidaridad where he became
a master mason(nov.15,1890)
On feb.15,1892,he was awarded the diploma as master mason
by le grand orient de france in Paris.
His not very active in freemasonry.
His only writing was a lecture titled “science, virtue and labor”.
Financial Worries
Due to the problem in Calamba Laguna, Rizal's allowances
were almost always delayed.
On June 24,1884(very touching story)---Rizal was feeling
down and broke, he was unable to take breakfast that day,
with an empty stomach he attended his class at university,
participated in the contest in Greek language and won gold
medal. In the evening, he was able to eat dinner for he was a
guest speaker in banquet held in honor of Juan Luna and
Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo at restaurant Ingles, Madrid.
Rizal’s Salute to Luna and Hidalgo
• The banquet on the evening of June 25, 1884,
was sponsored by the Filipino community to
celebrate the double victory of the Filipino
artists in the National Exposition of Fine Arts
in Madrid:
“Spolarium”
“Christian Virgins Exposed to The Populace”
Rizal saluted Luna and Hidalgo as the two glories of
Spain and the Philippines whose artistic achievements
transcended geographical frontiers and racial origins,
for genius is universal
“genius sprouts everywhere,
genius is light like air, the
patrimony of everybody,
cosmopolitan like space, like
life, like God.”
Filipino friends in Spain:
Don Pablo Ortiga y Rey
-has been a City Mayor of Manila during the administration of the
liberal governor general Carlos Ma. De la Torre (1869-1871) and was
promoted Vice-President of the council of the Philippines.
Consuelo Ortiga y Perez
- Don Pablo’s Daughter
Rizal Involved in Student Demonstration
• November 20,21,and 22, 1884
– the serene city of madrid exploded in bloody riots by the
students of Central University.
– Rizal participated, together with Cuban, Mexican, Peruvian,
and Spanish student.
• Dr. Miguel Morayta
–
–
–
–
professor of history
his address caused the demonstration of the student.
he proclaimed “the freedom of science and the teachers”.
the catholic bishop of Spain promptly excommunicated Dr.
Morayta and those who applauded his speech.
• The students rioted in the city streets,
shouting: “viva Morayta! Down with
Bishops!”
• Rizal, Valentin, Ventura, and other Filipinos
joined the demonstration
• Many university professors openly
supportde the student rioters.
• The Rector, who also took the side of the
students, was forced to resign and was
replaced by Doctor Creus ( a very unpopular
man, disliked by everybody)
Studies Completed in Spain
• Rizal completed his medical course in Spain.
• June 21, 1884 – conferred the degree of Licentiate in Medicine by the
Universidad Central de Madrid
• 1884-1885 – studied and passed all subjects leading to the degree of
Doctor of Medicine
Fifth Year (1882-83): Continuation of Medical Course in the University of Santo
Tomas
Medical Clinic I
Good
Surgical Clinic I
Good
Obstetrical Clinic I
Fair
Legal Medicine
Excellent
Sixth Year (1883-84)
Medical Clinic 2
Good
Surgical Clinic 2
Very good
Licentiate in Medicine awarded on June 21, 1884 with the
rating “FAIR”
Doctorate (1884-85)
History of Medical Science
Fair
Surgical Analysis
Good
Normal Histology
Excellent
Doctor of Medicine (Not Awarded)
• Rizal also finished his studies in Philosophy
and Letters with higher grades.
• He was awarded the degree of Licentiate in
Philosophy and Letters by the Universidad
Central de Madrid on June 19, 1885, with the
rating of “excellent” (Sobreseliente)
1882-1883
Universal History 1
Very good
General Literature
excellent
1883-1884
Universal History 1
Very good
General Literature
excellent
1884-1885
Universal History 2
Excellent
Greek and Latin Literature
Excellent (with prize)
Greek I
Excellent (with prize)
1882-1883
Spanish Language
Excellent w/ Scholarship
Arabic Language
Excellent w/ Scholarship
• He became qualified to be a professor of humanities
in any Spanish university
• By receiving a Licentiate in Medicine, he became a
full-fledged physician, qualified to practice medicine
“My doctorate is not of very much value to me…because
although it is useful to a university professor, yet I
believe they (Dominican friars) will never appoint me
as such in the College of Santo Tomas. I say the same
thing of philosophy and letters which may serve also
for a professorship, but I doubt if the Dominican
fathers will grant it to me.”