Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado Y Alonso Realonda
Birth Date: June 19, 1861
Place of Birth: Calamba, Laguna
Organizations: La Solidaridad, La Liga Filipina
Famous Works: Noli Me Tangere and El felibusterismo(Novels)
Date of Death: December 30, 1896
Francisco Mercado Rizal
"A model of fathers"- Jose Rizal
Birth Date: May 11, 1818
Place of Birth: Binan, Laguna
Latin Philisophy (Colegio de San Juan, Manila)
Tenant-farmer of Dominican owned hacienda in Calamba
Date of Death: January 5, 1898
Teodroa Alonso Realonda
Birth Date: November 8, 1826
Studied at the College of Santa Rosa
Date of Death: August 26, 1911
MGA KAPATID
SATURNINA RIZAL (1850-1913)
Si Saturnina ang panganay sa kanilang magkakapatid.
Siya ay ipinanganak noong 1850 at may palayaw na Neneng.
Tinulungan niya kasama ang kanyang ina makaaral si Rizal at siya ang tumayong
pangalawang ina ni Rizal noong nakulong ang kanilang ina na
si Teodora. Napangasawa niya si Manuel Timoteo Hidalgo ng
Batangas.
Sila ay may limang anak na si Alfredo, Adela, Abelardo,
Amelia at Augusto.
PACIANO RIZAL (1851-1930)
Si Paciano ay ang nakatatandang kapatid ni Jose Rizal.
Ipinanganak siya noong Marso 9, 1851 sa Calamba, Laguna. Siya ang pangalawa sa
labing-isang magkakapatid. Inalagaan niya si Jose Rizal at tinulungan niya
siyang makarating sa Europa. Habang nasa Europa si Jose, pinadalhan niya ng
pensiyon at sinulatan niya para mabalitaan si Jose tungkol sa mga nangyayari sa
Pilipinas at sa kanilang pamilya. Nag-aral si Paciano sa Colegio de San Jose sa
Maynila. Naging guro at kaibigan niya si Fr. Jose Burgos. Sumali at
sinuportahan ni Paciano ang Propaganda Movement for social refroms at ang
diyaryo ng kilusan, Diariong Tagalog. Sinuportahan din niya ang Katipunan sa
pagkuha ng mga miyembro galing sa Laguna. Pagkamatay ni Jose Rizal, naging
heneral si Paciano ng Revolutionary Army at naging military commander din ng
revolutionary forces sa Laguna noong Philippine-American War. Dahil dito,
hinuli siya ng mga Amerikano.
Namatay si Paciano ng siya'y 79 dahil sa tuberculosis.
NARCISA RIZAL (1852-1939)
Ang Pinakamatulunging Kapatid na
Babae ng Bayani
Si Narcisa Rizal ay ipinanganak noong taong 1852 at may
palayaw na “Sisa”. Siya ang ikatlong anak sa pamilya Rizal. Tulad ni Saturnina,
tumulong si Sisa sa pag-aaral ni Rizal
sa Europa, isinangla niya ang kanyang mga alahas at
ibinenta niya ang kanyang mga damit para lang matustusan and
pag-aaral ni Jose Rizal. Lahat halos ng mga tula at
isinulat ni Jose Rizal ay kanyang naisaulo. Si Sisa ang
pinakamatulungin sa kanilang pamilya. Nang ang kanilang mga magulang na sina
Don Francisco at Doña Teodora ay itinaboy sa kanilang tahanan, si Sisa ang
kumupkop sa kanila. Kahit na ang kasintahan ni Jose Rizal na si Josephine
Bracken ay pinatira niya sa kanyang tahanan sapagkat pinaghinalaan siya ng
pamilya Rizal na isang espiya ng mga paring
Espanyol. Kaya’t noong taong 1896, habang siya ay nakapiit
sa barkong “Castilla” na nakadaong sa Cavite ay nagpadala ng liham ng
pasasalamat si Jose Rizal sa kapatid na si Sisa sa pagpapatuloy kay Bracken sa
kanyang tahanan.
Si Sisa rin ang matiyagang naghanap ng lugar kung saan si
Jose Rizal ay inilibing na walang kahon at walang pangalan para pagkakilanlan
kaya nagbigay siya ng aginaldo sa namamahala sa mga libingan para lagyan ng
markang “RPJ” na siyang titik ng mga pangalan ni Jose Rizal. Pagkaraan ng
maraming taon ay hinukay ni Sisa at mga kaanak ang mga labi ni Jose Rizal.
Si Sisa ay ikinasal kay Antonino Lopez, isang guro at
musikero mula sa Morong, Rizal. Dahil sa pinatira nila ang mga magulang ni Sisa
at Jose sa kanilang tahanan, sila ang pinuntirya ng mga Espanyol. Tinakot siya
na ibabalik sa pinanggalingan at sinira ang kanilang tahanan bukod pa sa kinuha
ng sapilitan ang kanilang mga ari-arian.
Si Narcisa at Antonino ay nabiyayaan ng walong anak. Ang
anak nilang si Antonio na ipinanganak noong 1878, na namatay noong 1928 ay
pinakasalang ang kanyang pinsang buo na si Emiliana Rizal, na anak ng kapatid
ni Sisa na si Paciano kay Severina Decena. Ang anak na babae ni Sisa na si
Angelica na dumalay kay Jose Rizal sa Dapitan ay sumapi sa Katipunan pagkatapos
na patayin ang kanyang amain na si Jose Rizal.
Sa isang panayam ni Ambeth Ocampo sa mga guro ni Sisa ay
ipinagtapat nila na ang kanilang lolo Antonio ay anak ng prayleng si Leoncio
Lopez, and kura paroko ng Calamba, kung saan ay siya pinagbasihan ni Jose Rizal
ng katauhan ni Padre Florentino sa El Filibusterismo. Napag-alaman din na
pagkatapos ng kasal nina Narcisa at Antonino ay tumira sila sa simbahan ni
Padre Lopez at minana ni Antonino ang lahat ng aklat at pag-aari ng namatay na
pari.
Si Narcisa Rizal ay sumakabilang-buhay noong 1939.
OLYMPIA RIZAL (1855-1887)
Si Olympia ay ang ikaapat na anak sa pamilya Rizal. Siya ay
ipinanganak noong taong 1855. Napangasawa niya si Silvestre Ubaldo na isang
Telegraph Operator sa Manila at sila ay biniyayaan ng tatlong anak ngunit ito
rin ang dahilan ng kanyang kamatayan noong taong 1887.
LUCIA RIZAL (1857-1919)
Kahati sa mga Paghihirap ng Bayani
Si Lucia Rizal ay ipinanganak noong 1857 at panglima sa
pamilya Rizal. Siya ay kasal kay Mariano Herbosa ng Calamba, Laguna. Siya ay
pinagbintangan na nagsulsol sa kanyang mga kababayan na huwag magbayad ng upa
sa kanilang mga lupa na nagdulot ng kaguluhan at silang mag-asawa ay minsan
nang nagatulan na itapon sa ibang bansa kasama ang ibang miyembro ng pamilya
Rizal.
Si Mariano
ay namatay sa sakit na cholera noong Mayo, 1889. Hindi siya binigyan ng isang
burol Katoliko sa dahilang hindi siya nangumpisal mula nang ikasal kay Lucia.
Sa artikulo na isinulat ni Jose Rizal na “La Solidaridad Una Profanacion” ay
binatikos niya ang mga pari na tumangging ilibing sa maayos na libingan ang
isang mabuting Kristiyano dahil lamang sa siya ay bayaw ni Jose Rizal.
Noong
Disyembre 1891, ang balong si Lucia ay isa sa mga dumalo sa pulong ng pamilya
sa Hong Kong na isang reuniyon. Sinamahan niya si Jose Rizal pabalik ng Maynila
ng Hunyo ng sumunod na taon. Mula ika-6 hanggang ika-15 ng Hulyo 1892, si Jose
Rizal ay ikinulong sa Fort Santiago at ipinatapon sa Dapitan pagkatapos sa
tahi-tahing kasinungalingan na may mga babasahin laban sa mga pari na nakuha sa
mga bagahe ni Lucia noong nagbiyahe siya sakay ng barkong Don Juan.
Ang mga
anak nila Lucia at Mariano ay sina Delfina, Concepcion, Patrocinio, Estanislao,
Paz, Victoria, at Jose. Si Delfina na ipinanganak noong 1979 at namatay noong
1900 ay naging sikat bilang isa sa tatlong babae na kinabibilangan nina Marcela
Agoncillo at anak na si Lorenza na tumahi ng ating watawat. Si Delfina ang
unang asawa ni Heneral Salvador Natividad ng Rebolusyon ng Pilipinas. Sina
Teodosio (Osio) at Estanislao Tan ay naging mga estudyante ng kanilang amain na
si Jose Rizal sa eskuwelahan na kanyang itinatag sa Dapitan.
MARIA RIZAL (1859-1945)
Siya ay ipinanganak noong 1859 at ang pang-anim at
nakatatandang kapatid ni Jose Rizal. Ang asawa niya ay si Daniel Faustino Cruz
na galing sa Binan, Laguna. Sinabi na si Maria daw ang kinausap ni Jose noong
panahon na gusto ni Jose na pakalasan si Josephine Bracken. Namatay siya noong
1945.
CONCEPCION RIZAL (1862-1865
Ang Unang Pagdadalamhati ng Bayani
Siya ang
binansagang “Concha” ng kanyang mga kapatid at kaanak, si Concepcion Rizal ay
ipinanganak noong 1862 at namatay sa edad lamang na tatlong taon, noong 1865.
Siya ang pangwalo sa sampung magkakapatid.
Sinasabing
sa lahat ng kapatid na babae, si Concha ang pinakapaborito ni Jose o “Pepe”
Rizal na mas bata nang isang taon sa kanya. Magkalaro sila at lagging
kinukuwentuhan ni Jose Rizal ang nakababatang kapatid at sa kanya naramdaman ni
Jose Rizal ang kagandahan ng pagmamahal ng isang kapatid na babae.
Nang
namatay si Concha sa isang sakit, umiyak nang umiyak si Jose Rizal at isinulat
niya na noong siya ay apat na taong gulang ay nawalan siya ng kapatid na babae
at sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon ay naiyak siya sa panghihinayang sa pagkawala
ng kapatid na kayang minamahal.
Napakarami
rin ang namatay nang bata pa noong mga panahong iyon. Mahigit na sampung mga
pamangkin na babae at lalaki ni Jose Rizal ang binawian ng mga buhay sa murang
edad.
JOSEFA RIZAL (1865-1945)
Si Josefa Rizal ay ang ika-9 na anak sa pamilya at siya
ipinanganak noong taong 1865. Si Josefa ay kilala rin bilang si “Panggoy”.
Noong si Rizal ay nasa Europa, siya ay nagsusulat ng mga mensahe. Siya ay
nagsulat para kay Josefa na ang laman ay pagpupuri niya sa kanyang kapatid
dahil sa kanyang kaalaman sa Ingles. Si Rizal ay nagsulat din ng mensahe
tungkol sa bente pesos ngunit ang 10 doon ay para dapat sa lotto.
Siya ay nagkaroon ng sakit na epilepsy ngunit sa kabila ng
kanyang sakit, nagawa niya pa ring sumali sa Katipunan at maging isang
Katipunera. Si Josefa ay nahalal bilang pangulo ng mga babae sa Katipunan. Isa
siya sa mga orihinal na miyembro ng Katipunan kasama sila Gregoria de Jesus.
Siya ay namatay nang walang asawa o anak sa taong 1945.
TRINIDAD RIZAL (1868-1951)
Ang Katiwala ng Pinakasikat na Tula ng Bayani
Si
Trinidad Rizal ay ika-10 sa magkakapatid na Rizal. Siya ay ipinanganak noong
1868 at namatay noong 1951. Ang palayaw niya ay Trining at siyang tagapagtago
at tagapamahala na pinakahuli at pinakatanyag na tula ni Jose Rizal.
Noong
Marso 1886 ay sumulat si Jose Rizal kay Trining at isinasalaysay niya na ang
mga babae sa Alemanya ay masisipag mag-aral. Pinayuhan niya si Trining na
habang bata pa ito ay dapat magbasa nang magbasa ng buong puso. Pinangaralan
niya ito na huwag hayaang ang katamaran ang mamayani dahil napuna ni Jose Rizal
na wala sa loob nito ang pag-aaral. Sinabi niya na kaunting tiyaga lamang at
siya ay magtatagumpay. Makaraan ang apat na taon ay nagulat na lamang si Jose
Rizal nang makatanggap siya ng liham mula kay Trining. Ipinaalam nito na
nakapagtapos ito ng Kolehiyo, dalawang taon at isa’t-kalahating buwan na ang nakakaraan.
Noong
Agosto 1893, si Trinidad kasama ng kanyang ina ay namuhay kasama si Jose Rizal
sa “casa cuadrada” o “square house” (bahay kuwadrado). Naitala na minsan ay
pinag-isipan o pinagplanuhan ni Trining na patakasin si Jose Rizal sa pagkakakulong.
Noong Enero 1896 ay inanyayahan ni Jose Rizal si Trining na bumalik sa Dapitan.
Ang suliranin ni Jose Rizal ay kung sino ang mapapangasawa ni Trinidad sa
Dapitan, dahil ang pook na iyon ay halos parang walang tao at walang
kabuhay-buhay. Minsan ay sumulat si Trining kay Jose Rizal na nabasa nito ang
sulat sa kapatid nilang si Paciano, na kinukumusta si Trining kung nakakasundo
nito si Senyora Panggoy kung saan siya ay namamasukan. Sinabi ni Trining na
salamat sa Diyos sila’y magkakasundo at nabubuhay nang tahimik.
Si
Trinidad at ang kapatid na Josefa ay namuhay nang magkasama hanggang sila’y
namayapa at parehong hindi nag-asawa.
Bago
namatay si Jose Rizal ay dinalaw siya ni Trining at ng kanilang ina sa kanyang
piitan sa Fort Santiago. Nang sila’y paalis na ay inabot ni Jose Rizal ang
isang lampana, isang regalo mula sa mga Pardo de Tavera at ibinulong sa kanya
sa wikang hindi naunawaan ng mga kawal na nakabantay sa kanya na ang lutuan ay
mayroong bagay na nakatago doon at iyon ay ang kanyang huling tulang isinulat.
Tulad ni
Josefa at dalawang pamangkin, sumapi sa Katipunan si Trinidad matapos ang
kamatayan ni Jose Rizal.
Noong
taong 1883, si Trinidad ay naratay sa banig ng karamdaman, limang buwan mula
Abril hanggan Agosto. Pabalik-balik ang kanyang lagnat at dinapuan pala siya ng
sakit na malaria. Siya ang pinakahuling namatay sa pamilya Rizal.
SOLEDAD RIZAL (1870-1929)
Si Soledad Rizal ay ang bunso sa pamilya Rizal at
ipinanganak sa taong 1870. Siya ay kilala rin bilang Choleng. Si Rizal ay
saludo sa kanya dahil siya ay isang guro at siya ang pinakaedukado sa kanilang
magkakapatid. Siya ay sinabihan ni Rizal na dapat siya ay isang maging
magandang huwaran para sa mga tao, ito ay nakasulat sa mensahe noong 1890.
Si Choleng din ang pinakakontrobersyal na anak sa kanilang
pamilya. Ang kanyang napangasawa ay si Pantaleon Quintero na taga-Calamba
Laguna rin ngunit sila’y nagpakasal nang walang permiso sa kanyang mga
magulang. Di sang-ayon si Rizal dito kaya’t ginamit niya ang paksang ito at
nagsulat at sinabi niya sa mensahe niya na isang kakahiyan sa pamilya Rizal ang
pagpapakasal ng kapitid kay Pantaleon.
Isang dahilan din kung bakit siya ay tinawag na
kontrobersyal dahil sa kumakalat na balita na hindi raw totoong anak ni Teodora
at Francisco si Choleng kung ‘di kela Saturnina at Jose Alberto na kapatid ni
Teodora.
Si Choleng
at Pantaleon ay nagkaroon ng limang anak na sina Trinitario, Amelia, Luisa,
Serafin at Felix. Ang kanyang anak na si Amelia ay napangasawa si Bernabe
Malvar na anak ni Gen. Miguel Malvar.
RIZAL'S FAVORITE BOOKS
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO
By. Alexandre Dumas
UNCLE TOM'S CABIN
By: Harriet Breecher Stowe
THE WANDERING JEW
By: Eugene Sue
RIZAL'S AS LOVERS
Segunda Solis Katigbak
Birthdate: 1863
(80)
Death: January 16,
1943 (80)
1877. First Love: Segunda Katigbak–Teen-Age Puppy
Love–Doesn’t Really Count
Rizal’s supposed first love, Segunda Katigbak, was but a
harmless flirtation between a 14-year-old convent-bred girl and a teen-aged
Rizal. Segunda was already betrothed to a Manuel Luz of Lipa, Batangas, when
they met.
Rizal, then 17 years old, had a teen-age infatuation, albeit
the beginning awareness of the other gender. In fact, this was the first time
Rizal had a tete-a-tete alone with a girl other than his sisters. Remember when
you were 17 and you kept walking to and fro in front of the house of your
“crush”? You don’t call it real love, do you?
Leonor Valenzuela
Nicknamed Orang, Leonor Valenzuela was commonly described as
a tall girl with regal bearing who was Rizal’s province-mate. She was the
daughter of Capitan Juan and Capitana Sanday Valenzuela, who were from
Pagsanjan, Laguna.
1878. Second Love: Leonor Valenzuela–Imagined Love–A
Chenggoy Concoction
Rizal’s supposed affection for Leonor Valenzuela, age 14,
was a love story made up by his gossipy friend, Jose Cecilio (Chenggoy), who
derived pleasure from titillating Rizal. He told Rizal (then studying in
Madrid) that there was a rivalry for his affection between Leonor Valenzuela
(Orang) and Leonor Rivera (the landlady--she was the daughter of Rizal’s former
Ateneo landlord and uncle, Antonio Rivera). Rizal was 18 years old. He had no
real love for Orang, just the wandering eye of a Bagong Tao na nag-bi-binata (a
young man barely out of adolescence). Thus, count Orang out.
Leonor Rivera y Bauzon
Born April 11, 1867
Camiling, Tarlac, Captaincy General of the Philippines
Died August 28,
1893 (aged 26)
Manila, Captaincy General of the Philippine
Leonor Rivera–Kipping (née Rivera y Bauzon; 11 April 1867 –
28 August 1893) was the childhood sweetheart, and “lover by correspondence” of
Philippine national hero José Rizal. Rivera was the “greatest influence” in
preventing Rizal from falling in love with other women while Rizal was traveling
outside the Philippines. Rivera's romantic relationship with Rizal lasted for
eight years. She was immortalized by Rizal as the character María Clara in the
Spanish-language novel Noli Me Tangere. Her original hometown is in
Camiling, Tarlac.
1878-1890. Third Love: Leonor Rivera, Age 15, Long-Distance
Idealized But Doomed Love.
Jose Rizal was never the preferred choice of Leonor Rivera’s
mother, who confiscated all the correspondences between Leonor and Rizal till
it frittered down to zero. Rizal was 18 going on 21 and was devoted to Leonor.
But he was just then opening his eyes to Europe’s Enlightenment, where the
women were pleasing and the men were gallant. Rizal really was in love with
Leonor Rivera. He even invented a coded alphabet so that they could write sweet
nothings to each other. But soon, Leonor faded in memory. Why? Because in
Europe, Rizal conveniently romanced other girls and forgot he was engaged to
her. Eventually the Leonor Rivera-Rizal engagement did not survive the
long-distance romance. In the end, it turned into an idealized one (reflected
as Maria Clara in Rizal’s novel, Noli me Tangere), a painful love match doomed
to fail from the very start. Yes, count this one as real love. As an engaged
couple, they showed real affection for each other while it lasted.
Consuelo Ortiga
1884. Fourth Love: Consuelo Ortiga Y Reyes, The Madrid Flirt
In Madrid, Rizal courted Consuelo Ortiga, age 18, the
daughter of Señor Pablo Ortiga y Rey, who was once mayor of Manila and who owned
the apartment where the Circulo Hispano Filipino met regularly. Rizal, age 23,
was then acquiring and developing his charming ways with women. He treated them
with special consideration and with gallant courteousness. All the young
Filipino expatriates courted Consuelo, and she in turn encouraged every one
including José Rizal, Eduardo Lete, the Paterno brothers (Pedro, Antonino,
Maximiano), Julio Llorente, Evangelista, Evaristo Esguerra, Fernando Canon and
others.
Rizal gave Consuelo gifts: sinamay cloth, embroidered piña
handkerchiefs, chinelas (slippers) -- all ordered through his sisters in
Calamba (see his letters). Consuelo accepted all the swains’ regalos but played
Eduardo Lete against Rizal. She finally rejected Rizal’s attention in favor of
Eduardo’s, a Filipino Spanish mestizo from Leyte who, a year later, dumped her.
Two-timing Consuelo didn't really catch Rizal's true fancy
except that he impulsively joined the crowd. No, sorry about that.
O-Sei San
1888. Fifth Love: O Sei-San, Age 22, The Samurai’s Daughter
This relationship is what I would call Rizal’s Great Love,
in bold letters. Rizal, age 27, an author and a doctor had returned to the
Philippines in 1887, but because of his Noli Me Tangere, he incurred the wrath
of the Spanish authorities. He had to leave in 1888 via Japan to the U. S. and
then Europe. In Japan, he met a Samurai’s daughter. They went to excursions and
places together. She taught him Japanese and her culture.
Remember, Rizal had been exposed in Germany to ethnographers
(Fedor Jagor, who studied the Igorots) scientists (Dr. Rudolf Virchow,
linguist, who studied the “Mangianes” or Mangyans) and
anthropologists/historians (Ferdinand Blumentritt). Rizal, now a
self-confident, mature gentleman-scientist, was attracted to the Japanese culture
and immersed himself in its ancient tradition.
What if Rizal unconsciously (he never planned it) entered
into a treaty-port marriage, which had existed for centuries in Nagasaki Bay as
early as 1630? One-month treaty-port marriages were common, especially in
Nagasaki. They cost $4 for a license plus $15-$25 for a house and $10 for a
servant. What if Rizal and O-Sei-San, for the whole month in Yokohama, got into
this cultural arrangement? Just saying.
There is no mention of this kind of marriage in any of
Rizal’s biographies. Why? Probably because the Samurai cultural practice of
“temporary marriages” was mainly hidden away from the lenses of “staid and
proper” westerners. However, this was an ancient and respectable Japanese
tradition. The women were neither geishas nor prostitutes. They belonged to the
top of the social class as Samurais’ daughters!
Did Rizal and O Sei-San write sentimental haikus together?
Painted Japanese art? In fact, we have several Japanese art he made, kept at
the Rizal Historical Commission. Did they admire Japanese temple architectures
like Meguro amid Japanese gardens together? Did their hearts bond over the
rituals of the Tea Ceremony, “a cultural event never duplicated but always
imbibed in its peaceful and tranquil meditative aspect”?
Could the Samurai code of loyalty, love of nature’s simple
beauty, and options for self-effacement and self-improvement have made Rizal
cherish his month-long relationship with O Sei-San? Could he and O Sei-San have
shared a simple and honest love without hypocritical guilt and unburdened by
embarrassment? One only has to read Rizal’s journal to intuit the answer.
“O Sei San, sayonara, sayonara! …. No woman like you has
ever loved me. … Like the flower of the chodji that falls from the stem whole
and fresh without stripping leaves or withering... you have not lost your
purity nor have the delicate petals of your innocence faded--sayonara,
sayonara.
… I have thought of you and that image lives in my memory. …
I'll always think of you—When shall I return to that divine afternoon … your
name lives in the sighs of my lips and your image accompanies and animates my
thoughts. … When will the sweet hours I passed with you return? When will I
find them sweeter, more tranquil, more pleasing … its freshness, its elegance
…? Sayonara, sayonara.”
You be the judge. But I’m treading on dangerous ground here,
and I know I'll be mercilessly crucified if I’m not careful. For me, however,
the entry hints of true love and deep longing.
Gertrude Beckette
1886. Sixth Love: Gertrude Beckett, Age 19, A Contemporary
Pastime
The flirtation Rizal indulged in while staying in house
number 37 Chalcot Crescent, London, was an innocent pastime, not real love.
Rizal, age 27, had been thrown among his landlord’s daughters–Gertrude (Tottie)
and Sissie. When Tottie showed signs of ardor, and when Rizal felt being slowly
drawn to her, he left her high and dry without notice and without answering her
yearning letters. You don’t really do that to a “loved” one. No. Zero points
earned here.
Suzanne Jacoby
1889. Seventh Love: Suzanne Thill, Age 18, Clean Fun Re: The “Naughty Boy” Of Brussels
In Brussels, Rizal lived in the house of the Jacoby sisters: Marie and Suzanne. Marie was 48 and Suzanne, 45. Both were besotted with Rizal’s gallant and charming manners. Their 18-year-old niece named Suzanne Jacoby Thill lived with the sisters during Rizal's time. Our historians say Aunt Suzanne Jacoby became Rizal’s girlfriend. Why would Rizal, age 27, go for a 45- year-old, when there was a young 18-year-old (called Petite Suzanne) who was also enjoying his attention? There’s a letter signed by a Suzanne J. Thill saying, in effect: “I wear out the soles of my shoes going to the mailbox waiting for a letter from you. Why don't you write, you naughty boy? ”
In a recent talk at the San Francisco Public Library, I heard historian Ambeth Ocampo explain what “naughty boy” really meant--something lustful or “naughty doings, ” while other historians make it appear like forbidden love between the two. But I disagree.
Last summer 2012, in Brussels, I visited the apartment of the Jacoby’s where Rizal was a lodger. Rizal’s room was facing the street on the first floor. There’s a Rizal Historical Marker on that building. Susanne Thill’s room was on the same floor facing the street, next to Rizal’s room. The two aunts lived on the second floor above. The house was a few walking blocks away from the famous fountain, a two-feet bronze statue of the Manneken Pis.
I could picture Petite Suzanne and Rizal enjoying each other’s company, walking down that street, sitting in bistros enjoying the passersby, who were admiring and giving naughty judgments of that statue of the naked little urchin boy relieving himself in front of a crowd. Then I discovered to my great amusement, that actually, the local name for that beloved cutie is Naughty Boy. Now, let’s suppose it was Rizal and Petite Suzanne (not the elderly Tante Suzanne) who enjoyed each other’s company and used the naughty boy line to recall strolling down the streets of Brussels, wouldn’t that be a personal private little joke between them? Rizal, age 28, was then waiting for his novel El Filibusterismo in the printing press in nearby Ghent.
Little Suzanne and Rizal could easily have had a healthy boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, but it was just that. Clean fun and very tentative, spent under the watchful eyes of two elderly aunts within the same roof, while strolling by the streets, where a naughty boy is shamelessly urinating in public. Yes, for a very short-lived, lovely experience. Not a great, shattering love affair.
Nellie Boustead
1891. Eighth Love: Nellie Boustead, Age 19, The Rich
Heiress. She Antedated The Modern Pre-Nuptial Agreement
In Paris, Rizal fell in love with Nellie Boustead, a
Filipina whose father (Filipino-Anglo French) Edward Boustead owned a villa in
Biarritz. Rizal was on the rebound at the time, because he received news that
Leonor Rivera, his arranged fiancé, had married Charles Kipping, a British
engineer working on the Dagupan railway.
Rizal (now free from a romantic engagement) did propose
marriage to Nellie. He was anxious to start his own family at age 30. Nellie
was a good candidate. Her mother was from the Genato family in Manila. She was
well-educated, good at fencing, very intelligent and good-looking.
I wouldn’t call it Rizal’s great romance, because from the
very start the courtship encountered many complications. First, Antonio Luna
thought Nelly was favoring him. Luna and Rizal almost came to a sword duel, but
Luna withdrew and gave up the suit. In the end, Nellie, who was a Protestant,
gave some marriage conditions that Rizal could not accept--to renounce his
Catholic faith and become a Protestant. I would hesitate to call Nellie
Boustead Rizal’s great love. It was more a Rizal licking-of-wounds-love after
having been spurned by Leonor Rivera.
I see Nellie Boustead as antedating a modern pre-nup. Not a
real love, more like a marriage transaction. If it had succeeded, Rizal would
have become a practicing ophthalmologist in Paris and eventfully would have
become a Frenchman. Definitely No Love Lost on this one. The possibilities are
too staggering to contemplate.
Josephine Bracken
1895. Ninth Love: Josephine Bracken, Age 18, The Dulce
Extranjera
Rizal was already 34 when he met Josephine. She accompanied
her stepfather, George Tauffer of Hong Kong, who sought Rizal’s expertise as an
eye doctor in Dapitan. This European woman brought back memories of his
European sojourn. At first, Rizal pitied the young Irish girl, but their
proximity sparked their love. Remember, Rizal was an exile, deprived of many
liberties and conveniences. His future was uncertain. Josephine was there. She was
kind, loving and served Rizal hand and foot. Rizal wrote in his journal that
she had fulfilled his needs more than any Filipina girl could ever give him.
Did he sound very lonely and vulnerable? Yes, and did he
fall in love? Yes. They pledged themselves to each other, but not canonically
as husband and wife. They planned to marry within the church, but couldn’t. The
Archbishop of Cebu demanded that Rizal sign a retraction letter prepared by the
diocese. Rizal refused. The couple conceived a (boy) who, in its last
trimester, was lost in a miscarriage. The infant was named Francisco, and Rizal
buried him in Dapitan.
We read Rizal’s letters constantly praising Josephine for
her character and attributes. He even begged his sisters to be nice to her. In
my view, Josephine Bracken was the dulce extranjera whom he loved dearly, of
whom he made a sculpted face, left sketches and dedicated a book before he was
executed. It read: To my dear and unhappy wife, Josephine. She served as his
dulce amor. But it was a sad ending, as we know, on the morning of 30 December
1896.
Yes, I believe, Josephine Bracken was José Rizal’s great
love.
TOUR SA BAHAY NI RIZAL
