Humble beginnings

June 19, 1861, José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was born in Calamba, Laguan

Jose Rizal Paternal Side

Great Great grandfather was Domingo Lam-co, a full blooded Chinese married to Ines de la Rosa a
Chinese half-breed

The mercado-Rizal family had also Japanese, Spanish, Malay and Negrito blood aside from their Chinese
blood.

Francisco Mercado Sr. was the Son of Domingo and Ines Married to Cirila Bernacha Mercado

Jose Rizal's father Francisco Mercado was the youngest ofthe 13 children of juan Mercado and Cirilia
Alejandro Mercado

Mercado - adopted in 1731 by Domigo Lamco (the paternal great-greatgrandfather of Jose

Rizal) which the Spanish term mercado means 'market' in English. Rizal - from the word 'Ricial'
in Spanish means a field where wheat, cut while still green, sprouts again. Alonzo -
old surname of his mother.

Maternal Side

Lakandula Teodora Alonso's family ancestor - last native king of tondo

Eugenio Ursua- Great great grandfather with Japanese ancestry Married to Benigna

Regina Ursua Great grandmother of Jose married to MAnuel de Quintos- Filipino Chinese lawyer

Brigida de Quinto as Jose's grandmother married to Lorenzo Alberto Alonso- Spanish mestizo an
engineer and recipient of the most sought decoration

Next will be how our national hero was molded through his experiences

childhood experiences

-barely 3 years old, Jose learned the alphabet from his mother

-at 4 years old, his sister concepcion died it was his first sorrow

-during his remaining childhood years his mother taught him to write and after that his father

hired private tutors after Leon Monroy died Jose was sent to a private school
-next 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,

Uncle Gregorio, a scholar, instilled into the mind of the boy love for education.

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 One’s Language

Jose Rizal's Education

-Jose's 1st teacher was his mother next was his private tutors Maestro Celestino, Maestro Lucas and
Leon Monroy

-Rizal later goes to Binan,Laguna after the death of his last tutor Leon Monroy after his studies in Binan

-Jose Rizal studied at Ateneo Municipal de Manila taking up Bachelor of Arts graduated with highest
honor not a valedictorian

-After graduating he continued his education at UST finished a year in Philosophy and letters and
decided to shift to a medical course specializing in Ophthalmology when he found out that his mother
was going blind

-next stop of Jose Rizal was Europe in Madrid he continued his studies in Medicine at the Unversidad
Central de MadridDegree of Licentiate in Medicineand Degree of Philisophy and letters

-next was University of Paris (france) after gathering some experience in ophthalmology,he left Paris and
went to Heidelberg, Germany and University of Heidelberg(Germany) where he completed his eye
specialization he earned a second doctorate

-Jose Rizal earned a Licentiate in Medicine

at the Universidad Central de Madrid, where he also took courses in philosophy and literature.

It was in Madrid that he began writing Noli Me Tangere. He also attended classes in

the University of Paris and, in 1887, he completed his eye specialization course at

the University of Heidelberg. It was also in that year

that Rizal’s first novel was published in Berlin.