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DR. MAXIMO S. VIOLA THE MAN WHO FIRST READ THE NOLI ME
TANGERE
By: Quennie Ann J. Palafox

They said friends are rare like a fountain of gold, subject to safekeeping because it
is so precious that we would not want to lose them. A true friend is someone who will be
there for you to lend a helping hand when you needed him most, trust you when everyone
turn their backs on you, and love you for what you are and not what you have- these are
the prime characteristics of a real friendship as friendship knows no border.

Once upon a time, a struggling patriotic man named Jose Rizal developed friendship
with a kind doctor whose name was Maximo S. Viola who would later become the patron
of Rizal’s first novel- the Noli Me Tangere. Dr. Viola was born on October 17, 1857 in Sta.
Rita, San Miguel, Bulacan to parents Pedro Viola and Isabel Sison. Just like Rizal, he was
an alumnus of the University of Santo Tomas where he finished pre-medical studies. He
sailed to Spain, where he earned a degree in medicine at the University of Barcelona in
1882. He met Dr. Jose Rizal in Barcelona, who was likewise actively involved in the
Propaganda Movement, and who would later become his friend. He accepted Rizal’s
invitation to join him on a tour of Europe, particularly Germany, Austria, Hungary, and
Switzerland, from May to June 1887. Rizal was at that time worried with his financial
inability to publish the Noli Me Tangere and even considering aborting his plan of
publishing the novel by destroying the manuscript. Noli Me Tangere is a vanguard of
Filipino nationalism in the form of a novel which invokes equal rights for the Filipinos in
order to get back their self-confidence. The novel brings to light the social woes in the
country during Rizal’s time and come up with appropriate reform to various sectors of the
society such as the education of the people, assimilation of Western culture, and
appreciation of their native traditions. Convinced with the worth of the novel and its
purpose, Viola funded the cost of the publication himself, an initial 2000 copies of the
novel were printed in 1887. In deep gratitude, Rizal gave him the galley proofs and the
first published copy.

In 1887, Dr. Viola decided to go back to his homeland to practice medicine and it’s
really destiny that he would find Juana Roura, whom he married in 1890. Her wife bore
him five sons, but two of them died as infants. He had a reunion with Rizal when he invited
him for a visit in Manila, in the latter part of June 1892. The meeting was brief for the two
friends for Rizal had to be at Malacañang Palace, to confer with Governor General
Despujol on his political activities. Dr. Viola, who was then also under suspicion of
engaging in subversive activities, could not stay long in Manila.

Viola became a dissident and was frequently harassed by the Spanish authorities which
persisted until the revolution. When the Americans arrived, his fellow countrymen
became fascinated with what the Americans could offer- their benevolent assimilation
policy. As a nationalist, he refused to succumb to the new power which resulted with his
incarceration, initially to a Manila military prison and, later, was transferred to Olongapo.
He was released with the help of Dr. Fresnell, an American doctor who sought his help
because he was not knowledgeable about tropical diseases.

He had a soft heart for the masses and their sad plight. Viola, who served as president
of the Liga de Proprietarios, supported the owners of rice lands in San Miguel, Bulacan in
opposing politicians who were courting the tenants’ votes at the expense of the landlords.
When the Manila Railroad line was being extended to Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Viola
likewise fearlessly led the concerned landowners in preventing the prestigious British
Company from taking over their land without appropriate reparations. Apart from his
civic works, he used his profession to help treat his indigent patients for free.

Memories of his friendship with Rizal left an indelible mark in his heart that would
later be put in writing through his memoirs in three parts in the Spanish newspaper El
Ideal, which came out on June 18, 19 and 20, 1913. On September 3, 1933, Dr. Viola, aged
76, died in Barrio San Jose in his hometown.

Although not acknowledged in the book, Dr. Maximo S. Viola will constantly be
remembered as the man who saved the Noli Me Tangere for posterity. More than that, he
served the Filipino people by supporting Dr. Jose Rizal in his advocacy for nationalism,
which inspired the Philippine Revolution.

Don Miguel Morayta was the owner of the newspaper, “La Publicidad.” He was born in
September 1834 in Madrid, Spain. He was a statesman. He was both director and owner of
the newspaper. He was a Spanish anti-clerical free thinker, a journalist, and a professor. He
was also an influential member of the Republican party.
He was also pivotal in establishing the Masonic movement in the Philippines. Throughout
the history of La Publicidad, the newspaper was under control of various owners, being
gradually Catalanized and succeeded by La Publicit in 1922. La Publicidad was a
newspaper published in Barcelona between 1878 and 1922. It was written in Spanish.