Pepe. | The Life, Works and Writings of Jose Rizal [ENGLISH]

Rizal's Childhood and Early Education

According to some readings, his mother nearly died during his delivery because of his big head. Three days after his birth, Rizal was baptized on June 22 of the said year with the name Jose Rizal Mercado at the Catholic church of Calamba by the parish priest Rev. Rufino Collantes.

He was the seventh child of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso y Quintos. During 1865-1867, his mother taught him how to read and write. At the age of three, Rizal mastered and learned the alphabet taught by his mother. At a very young age, at the age of 3, he has shown great interest in reading and learned the alphabet. He enjoyed reading books in their library at home, with his mother who acts as his reading teacher and a critic. At this time, he also learned how to pray and even read the bible at the age of 5, and learned how to sketch and mold figures using clay and wax.

When Jose Rizal grew older, his parents acquired private tutors to give him lessons at home in preparation for his formal education.

LEON MONROY – classmate of his father who taught him the rudiments of Latin.

UNCLE MANUEL ALBERTO – his mother's cousin worried on his nephew's physical development. He taught him swimming, fencing, wrestling and other sports.

UNCLE JOSE – educated at Calcutta India, and taught him to love and admire the beauty of nature, paint, sketch and sculpture.

UNCLE GREGORIO – a scholar and instilled in Rizal's mind the love for books, education, and its importance, the value of hard work, to observe his surroundings and life carefully.

FATHER LEONCIO LOPEZ – helped understand the philosophy of life and learned the value of scholarship and intellectual honesty.

JUANCHO OF BINAN – an old painter who nurtured Rizal's interest in painting

When he was four years old, his sister Concepcion, the eighth child in the Rizal family, died at the age of three. This was the first time he cried as a young boy. As sad as he was, the parish priest of Calamba, Father Leoncio Lopez, helped Rizal understand the philosophy of life and learned the value of scholarship and intellectual honesty. Rizal, in his childhood, used to take long rides through all the surrounding country by riding his pony that his father gave him. At some time, he also likes to take long walks in the meadows and lakeshore with his big black dog named Usman. Among his pets were doves and a dog.

Owing to the continuous teaching of Doña Teodora, Rizal was persuaded to express his feelings through verses. He was able to write his first poem when he was 8 years old. The poem was entitled "Sa Aking Mga Kababata" (To My Fellow Children), which showed that Rizal, even at a young age, already had love for his country. Here, he similarly incorporates the love for the native language with God's gift of freedom. He compared his native language or Tagalog to Latin, English and Spanish. Tagalog, like any other languages, had its own alphabet and system writing, which according to Rizal, disappeared because they were neglected or ignored. With this, he encourages his fellow children to love their native tongue.

Then, after Rizal's tutor Leon Monroy died, his parents decided to transfer Rizal to a private school in Biñan, Laguna. He was accompanied by his older brother Paciano, who acted as his second father during his school days in Biñan. The school was then supervised by Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz. Rizal's first day of class in the school was not easy. The maestro asked him if he knows how to speak Latin or Spanish, but in response, he only knew a little of the languages. As a result, one of his classmates named Pedro, the son of the maestro, laughed at him. Pedro was always bullying him that eventually resulted to a brawl. But knowing Rizal's acquired knowledge and skill in the art of wrestling from his Tio Manuel, he defeated Pedro. After the said incident, Rizal became popular in his class. Here, Rizal was able to show his intellectual superiority.