Education in Calamba

Doña Teodora Alonzo (Lolay) was the first teacher of Jose Rizal—teaching him Spanish,
correcting his composed poems, and coaching him in rhetoric. On her lap, Rizal learned
the alphabet and Catholic prayers at the age of three, and had learned to read and
write at age 5.
Uncle Jose Alberto - taught him painting, sketching, and sculpture.
Uncle Gregorio - influenced him to further love reading.
Uncle Manuel - developed Rizal’s physical skills in martial arts like wrestling.

‘Rizal early education in Calamba and Binan’

Later, private tutors were also hired to give Rizal lessons at home in Calamba, to further
enhance what He had learned.
A certain Maestro Celestino tutored him and Maestro Lucas Padua later succeeded
Celestino.
Afterward, a former classmate of Don Francisco, Leon Monroy, lived at the Rizal home
in Calamba to become the boy’s tutor in Spanish and Latin. Unfortunately, Monroy died
five months later.

Education in Biñan
June, 1869 Rizal left for Biñan
Was accompanied by Paciano his older brother
He was taught by Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz. In Rizal’s own words, his teacher
“knew by the heart the grammars by Nebrija and Gainza.”
In academic studies, Rizal beat all Biñan boys
He surpassed them all in Spanish, Latin, and other subjects
Jose challenged the bully Pedro to a fight and won over his tormenter.
He had an arm-wrestling match with his classmate Andres Salandanan in which Jose
lost and even almost cracked his head on the sidewalk.

Education in Manila
Colegio de San Juan de Letran – took the entrance examination
Ateneo De Municipal
- Rizal entered in 1872
- Run by the Jesuit congregation (Society of Jesus)
- Classes in Ateneo were divided into two groups
o Roman Empire, comprised the interns (boarders)
o Carthaginian Empire, consisted of the externs (non-boarders).
 Emperor – Tribune – Decurion – Centurion – Standard-Bearer.
 By the end of the month, he became the emperor and received a
prize, a religious picture
Paciano found Jose a boarding house in Intramuros but he later transferred to the
house of a spinster situated on Calle Carballo in Santa Cruz area.
2nd year – Jose transferred residence to No. 6 Calle Magallanes and he obtained a medal
at the end of that academic term.
To improve his Spanish, Rizal took private lessons in Santa Isabel College
March 23, 1877
 graduated 16 years old
 received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, with highest honors
 ‘sobresaliente’ or outstanding. – one of the nine students in his class
 received 5 medals
Priest-professors in Ateneo were:
Jose Bech – a man with mood swings and somewhat of a lunatic and of an
uneven humor.
Francisco de Paula Sanchez – an upright, earnest, and caring teacher whom Rizal
considered his best professor
Jose Vilaclara
Don Augustin Saez - a famous Spanish Painter thoughtfully guided him in drawing and
painting,
the Filipino Romualdo de Jesus - lovingly instructed him in sculpture.
Tio Manuel – Rizal Engaged in gymnastics and fencing and continued the physical
training under him
Active member and became a secretary, the Marian Congregation Religious Society
Member of the Academy of Spanish Literature and the Academy of Natural Sciences
Medical Studies in University of Sto. Thomas (1877-1882)
1877
- Rizal enrolled in the University of Santo Tomas,
o UST was under the Dominicans, rival of the Jesuits in education
- taking the course on Philosophy in Letters.
- Land Surveyor and Assessor's Degree (expert surveyor)
o vocational course.
o finished his surveyor's training in 1877
o passed the licensing exam in May 1878,
o license was granted to him only in 1881 when he reached the age of
majority.
As a Thomasian he won more literary laurels
Rizal had taken a total of 19 subjects in UST and finished them with varied grades,
ranging from excellent to fair. Notably, he got ‘excellent’ in all his subjects in the
Philosophy course.
During his first term in 1877-1878 in UST, he studied Cosmology, Metaphysics, Theodicy
and History of Philosophy.
It was during the school term 1878-1879 that Rizal pursued his studies in medicine

1879
- Rizal displayed his leadership in student activism
- He wrote the first-prize winning poem "A Juventud Filipina" (To the Filipino
Youth)

Reasons why Rizal wanted to study Medicine:

He wanted to be a physician so that he could cure his mother’s failing eyesight
Fr. Pablo Ramon, the Father Rector of Ateneo whom he consulted for a choice of career,
finally answered his letter, and recommended medicine

Pre-Med Course
Curso de Ampiacion or Advanced course in Physics, Chemistry and Natural History.
Out of the 28 young men only four including Rizal were granted the privilege of taking
simultaneously the preparatory course and the first year of medicine
Rizal also received his four-year practical training in medicine at the Hospital de San
Juan de Dios in Intramuros
During his last year at the University, Rizal had obtained the global grade of Notable
(Very Good) in all of his subjects, and he was the second-best student in a decimated
class of seven who passed the medicine course. After which, Rizal decided to study in
Spain.

Academic Journey to Spain (1882-1885)

His departure for Spain was kept secret from Spanish Authorities, friars and even his
parents especially his mother because she would not allow him to go. To avoid
detection, he used the name Jose Mercado
On May 3, 1882 he boarded on Salvadora bound for Singapore where he was the only
Filipino passenger
November 3, 1882
- enrolled in Universidad Central de Madrid
- two courses: Philosophy and Letters, and Medicine
June 21, 1884
- Degree of Licentiate in Medicine at the age of 23
- with the rating of ‘fair’ affected by the ‘low’ grades from UST
- he was not able to submit the thesis required for graduation nor paid the
corresponding fees. With that, he was not awarded his Doctor’s Diploma

June 18 1885
- June 18, awarded the Degree of Licentiate in Philosophy and Letters
- with the rating of excellent (‘sobresaliente’).
It was in Madrid that he began writing Noli Me Tangere.

Ophthalmology studies and travels in Europe

In 1885, Jose Rizal (24 years old) went to Paris and Germany in order to specialize in
ophthalmology.
Attended medical lectures at the University of Paris
November 1885 - February 1886
- he worked as an assistant to Dr. Louis de Weckert.
- learned how to perform all the ophthalmological operations through this leading
French ophthalmologist.
Heidelberg, Germany
- Rizal arrived on February 3, 1886
- University of Heidelberg, attended lectures of
o Dr. Otto Becker - German ophthalmologist
o Prof. Wilhelm Kuehne
- Worked at the University Eye Hospital under the guidance of Dr. Becker
 o had learned to use the then newly invented ophthalmoscope (invented by
Hermann von Helmholtz) which he later used to operate on his mother’s
eye.
- the 25-year-old Rizal completed his eye specialization in Heidelberg.
April 22, 1886
- Rizal wrote a poem entitled A Las Flores de Heidelberg (To the Flowers of
Heidelberg) because he was fascinated by the blooming flowers along the Neckar
River, which was the light blue flower called “forget-me-not”.
Afterward, Rizal spent three months in the nearby village, Wilhemsfeld where he wrote
the last few chapters of ‘Noli Me Tangere’
He stayed at the pastoral house of a kind Protestant pastor, Dr. Karl Ullmer.

Leipzig
- Rizal arrived on August 14, 1886
- attended some lectures at the University of Leipzig on history and psychology
Rizal Friends in Europe:
- Maximo Viola
- Senor Eusebio Corominas
- Don Miguel Morayta
- Dr. Louis de Weckert
Berlin
- he reached on November 1886
- worked as an assistant in Dr. Schweigger’s clinic
- attended lectures in the University of Berlin
- inducted as a member of the Berlin’s ‘Ethnological, Anthropological, and
Geographical Society’
- April 1887
o was invited to deliver an address in German before the ‘Ethnographic
Society’ of Berlin on the orthography and structure of the Tagalog
language
In Germany, Rizal met and befriended the famous academicians and scholars at the
time:
 Prof. Friedrich Ratzel - German historian
 Dr. Hanz Meyer - German Anthropologist
 Dr. Feodor Jagor - the author of ‘Travels in the Philippines’
 Dr. Rudolf Virchow - German anthropologist; and Rudolf’s son
 Dr. Hans Virchow - Descriptive Anatomy professor.
Reasons Why Rizal choose to reside in Germany longer:
- to gain further his studies in science and languages
- to observe the economic and political conditions of the German nation
- to associate with the famous scientists and scholars
- lastly to publish his novel Noli Me Tangere
Dr. Jose Rizal as Propagandist
Between 1872 and 1892, a national consciousness was growing among the Filipino
émigrés who had settled in Europe. In the freer atmosphere of Europe, these
émigrés (liberals exiled in 1872 and students attending European universities)
formed the Propaganda Movement. The Propagandists, who included upper-class
Filipinos from all the lowland Christian areas, strove to "awaken the sleeping intellect of
the Spaniard to the needs of our country" and to create a closer, more equal association
of the islands and the motherland.
To prove his point and refute the accusations of prejudiced Spanish writers against his
race, Rizal annotated the book, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, written by the Spaniard
Antonio Morga. The book was an unbiased presentation of 16th century Filipino culture.
Rizal through his annotation showed that Filipinos had developed culture even before
the coming of the Spaniards.
 Aims of the Propagandists
 Representation of the Philippines in the Cortes Generales, the Spanish parliament
 Secularization of the clergy
 Legalization of Spanish and Filipino equality;
 Creation of public school system
 independent of Catholic friars;
 Abolition of the polo y servicios (labor service) and vandala (forced sale of local
products to the government);
 Guarantee of basic freedoms;
Equal opportunity for Filipinos and Spanish to enter government service (Macaraig,
2014)
Rizal activism began, during his beyond in the historic and picturesque town of
Calamba, Laguna. In 1896, at the tender age of eight, he wrote his first poem in
vernacular entitled "Sa Aking Mga Kababata" (To My Fellow Children). With nationalist
sentiment, he declaimed in the third stanza. Whoever knows not how to love his native
tongue Is worse than any beast or evil smelling fish. To make our language richer ought
to be our wish The same as any mother loves to feed her young
Furthermore, Rizal sonorously proclaimed that any people who truly love their native
language will surely strive for liberty like "the bird which soars to freer space above"
and that Tagalog is the equal of Latin, English, Spanish, and other foreign languages.
Rizal organize a secret society of Filipino students and named it Compañerismo
(Comradeship). The members were called "Companions of Jehu" Rizal was the
president, with Galicano Apacible, his cousin from Batangas, as secretary.
Rizal's student activism was his bold criticism of the archaic and defective university
education of his time. He assailed the humiliating treatment of the brown filipino
students, who were often insulted and ridiculed by the Dominican friar-professor. He
also exposed the poor method of instruction. The Class in Physics - of his second novel
El Filibusterismo, he humorously described the teaching of science in the university
without any laboratory experiment. The microscope and other laboratory apparatus
were always kept inside the showcases to be seen by visitors, and the students could
even touch them. Favoritism and color of skin, not merit and intellectual brilliance, were
the criteria of grading the students.
 "Viva Morayta! Down with the Bishops!"
 In his letter to his family on November 26,1884, Rizal recounted the hectic
events of the bloody student’s demonstration.
 On November 23, 1884, peace and order were finally restored in the troubled
city of Madrid and its university.
 As late as December 17, the university crisis was still unsolved. As Pre vorse"
Rizal reported to his family in Calamba: "The school crisis is getting worse.”