The Rizal Family

The Rizal family was known to be well-off family in Calamba, Laguna and they were considered as one of the biggest families in those times. They lived a life of comfort and prosperity, then considered that his family belonged to the principalia class or the ruling elite of their town. Jose Rizal came from a 13-member family, consisted of his father Don Francisco Mercado II and his mother Teodora Alonso Realonda. Jose Rizal had nine sisters and one brother. Saturnin a Rizal was the eldest child among the siblings, followed by Paciano, Narcisa, Olympia, Lucia, Maria, Jose, Concepcion, Josefa and the youngest was Soledad. Rizal came from a mixture of races, his paternal ascendant was Domingo Lamco, a full-blooded Chinese. He married a wealthy Chinese mestiza, Ines de la Rosa. Domingo Lamco adopted the surname Mercado, which means “market” in keeping the gubernatorial decree of Narciso Claveria on the use of Spanish surnames. From the Parian in Manila, the coupled moved to Biñan, Laguna and became tenants in the Dominican hacienda. Rizal’s father is one of the 14 children of Juan Mercado, paternal grandfather and his grandmother was Cirila Alejandrino, a Chinese-Filipino mestiza. Juan Mercado became a gobernadorcillo of Biñan Laguna. Rizal’s maternal great grandfather was Manuel de Quintos, a Chinese mestizo from Lingayen, Pangasinan. Manuel married Regina Ursua, with a Japanese ancestry to whom they bore the grandmother of Rizal, Brigida who married Lorenzo Alberto Alonso, one of their

Descriptions

DON FRANCISCO RIZAL MERCADO (1818-1898)
Rizal’s father was born on May 11, 1818 and was the youngest of his 13 siblings. Mercado was a well-respected man in their home town of Calamba in which citizens made him the their "cabeza de barangay" (head of town.) He was of part Chinese descent, having been related to a Chinese entrepreneur by the name of Domingo Lamco. Mercado die shortly after Rizal in the home of his daughter, Narcisa Rizal in Binondo, Manila on January 5, 1898.
TEODORA ALONSO (1827-1913)
Doña Teodora Alonso was born on November 14, 1827 in Santa Cruz Manila. Her parents were Lorenzo Alonso, a municipal captain and Brijida de Quintos, an educated housewife and had four other siblings . It is said that her great grandfather, Eugenio Ursua was of Japanese ancestry making her of Japanese descent. When Teodora was 20 years old, she married Francisco Mercado, a native from Binan, Laguna. Together they prospered in Calamba after involving themselves in business and agriculture. She was known to be a hardworking, intelligent, business minded woman. She died in 1913 in Manila.
SATURNINA RIZAL (1850-1913)
Saturnina Mercado Rizal Hidalgo was born in 1818 and was the eldest sister of Jose Rizal. She had five children together with husband Manuel T. Hidalgo and died the same year as her mother in 1913.
PACIANO RIZAL (1851-1930)
General Paciano Mercado Rizal aka "Lolo Ciano" was the only brother of Jose Rizal. He was born in 1851 and studied in Biñan later attending school at the Colegio de San Jose in Manila. After the execution of his brother, he joined in the Philippine Revolution where he rose up to the ranks of a General. He later married Severina Decena of Los Banos and had two children of which one died at an early age. Paciano passed away in 1930.
NARCISA RIZAL (1852-1939)
Narcisa Rizal Lopez was born in 1852 and was the one who found the unmarked grave of her brother, Jose in the abandoned Old Paco Cemetery. Narcisa married Antonio Lopez who was a teacher and musician from Morong, Rizal. She died in 1938.
OLYMPIA RIZAL (1855-1887)
Olympia Rizal Ubaldo was born in 1855. She married Silvestre Ubaldo and together they had three children. She died in 1887 from childbirth when she was only 32 years old.
LUCIA RIZAL (1857-1919)
Lucia Rizal Herbosa was born in 1857. She married Mariano Herbosa and had 5 children together. In 1889 Mariano died due to an epidemic but was denied a Christian burial. This was due to the fact that he was the brother in law of Jose Rizal. This showed the beginning of the persecution of the Rizal family by Spanish friars. Lucia died in 1919.
MARIA RIZAL (1859-1945)
Maria Cruz Rizal was born in 1855. She married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan, Laguna and together they had 5 children. Mauricio Cruz, one of Maria's children became a student of Jose Rizal in Dapitan and was known to be one of his uncle's favorites. Maria was a known recipient of many od Jose's letters during his lifetime. Maria died in 1945.
JOSE RIZAL
Jose Protacio Rizal was the second son and the seventh child. He was executed by the Spaniards on December 30,1896.
CONCEPCION RIZAL (1862-1865)
Concepcion Rizal was born in 1862. Concepcion did not live very long as she died at the age of 3 in 1865.
JOSEFA RIZAL (1865-1945)
Josefa Rizal was born in 1865. She was unmarried lived together with sister Trinidad until death. Josefa was said to have suffered from epilepsy. She died in 1945.
TRINIDAD RIZAL (1868-1951)
Trinidad Rizal was born in 1868. She remained unmarried and lived together with her sister Josefa. Trinidad was the one who received an alcohol lamp from brother Jose, in which he secretly hid the "Last Farewell" better known as "Mi Ultimo Adios," a poem Rizal wrote on the eve of his death in 1896. Trinidad died in 1951, outliving all her siblings.
SOLEDAD RIZAL (1870-1929)
Soledad Rizal Quintero was born in 1870 making her the youngest of the Rizal siblings. She married Pantaleon Quintero and together they had 5 children. Soledad died in 1929.

RIZAL’S CHILDHOOD AND EARLY EDUCATION

Jose Rizal (Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonso Realonda) was born on June 19, 1861 at Calamba, Laguna. 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, he has shown great interest in reading. 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.

TO MY FELLOW CHILDREN

Whenever people of a country truly love
The language, which by heaven they were taught to use
That country also surely liberty pursue
As does the bird which soars to freer space above.
For language is the final judge and referee
Upon the people in the land where it holds sway;
In truth our human race resembles this way
The other living beings born in liberty.
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.
Tagalog and the Latin language are the same
And English and Castilian and the angel’s tongue;
And God, whose watchful care o’er all is flung,
Has given us His blessing in the speech we claim.
Our mother tongue, like all the highest that we know
Had alphabet and letters of its very own;
But these were lost – by furious waves were overthrown
Like bancas in the stormy sea, long years ago.