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Girlfriends
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Table of Contents
Julia
Segunda Katigbak
Leonor Valenzuela
Leonor Rivera
Consuelo Ortiga
Gertrude Beckette
Nelly Boustead
O Sei San
Suzanne Jacoby
Josephine Bracken
Rivera was to him his ideal woman, his model for Maria Clara, one of
the main characters in his first novel, Noli Me Tangere. He was
ready to marry her. Unfortunately, Riveras mother disliked Rizal who
was then earning the reputation of being a dissident. The two last
saw each other before Rizal left for Spain in May 1882.
The mother hid from Rivera all the letters that Rizal was sending
from Spain. After a passage of many years, thinking that Rizal had
abandoned her, Rivera sadly consented to marry Henry Kipping, an
Englishman who was her mothers choice. Rizal was said to have
cried shamelessly when news of the wedding reached him.
Rivera never got to know that Rizal loved her just as much and that
the thought of her prevented him from having a serious relationship
with any of the women he encountered in EuropeOrtiga, Beckette,
Boustead and Jacoby.
when
he
was
in
Madrid.
Rizal asked Josephine to marry him, but she was not yet ready to
make a decision due to her responsibility to the blind Taufer. Since
Taufer's blindness was untreatable, he left for Hon Kong on March
1895. Josephine stayed with Rizals family in Manila. Upon her return
to Dapitan, Rizal tried to arrange with Father Antonio Obach for their
marriage. However, the priest wanted a retraction as a precondition
before marrying them. Rizal upon the advice of his family and friends
and with Josephine's consent took her as his wife even without the
Church blessings. Josephine later gives birth prematurely to a
stillborn baby, a result of some incidence, which might have shocked
or frightened her.
END