However, due to Rizal’s habit of changing languages in his written work, many find it
difficult to understand
Had a long association with Leonor Rivera, who many people thought to be the
inspiration for Maria Clara
Rizal met Rivera in her teen years and had been apart due to Rizal’s departure to
Madrid
They had stayed in contact through letter, which accordingly made Rizal focused on his
studies
Rizal was initially forbidden to see Rivera by his father because of his subversive status
Rivera was wed to an englishman, who was favored by her mother. This devastated
Rizal, which draws similarities to Noli Me Tangere’s plot
The Real Name of Jose Rizal
Rizal did not use Mercado, his father’s last name because of the political
baggage that Mercado had, he opted to use Rizal; his middle name to earn
the benefits of being illustrado and enjoy being part of the spanish elite
Jose came from the San Jose Festival, the same day he was born on
Rizal had the name Racial which points to their main occupation in the
green fields but was rejected
The Alonzo name come from his mother and Realonda to an aunt
The Real Name of Jose Rizal
A special law, present at that time, allowed filipinos to change their
last names. This resulted to the mercado family getting the unlisted
name: Rizal
The original name application was Ricial but was rejected for no
reason. This meant green of young growth or green fields
The Alonsos got the name Realonda but still used Alonso
Rizal then had compounded names each from his father and
mother
CLAVERIA LAW
●Pre 1849, Filipinos did not have individual surnames to distinguish one family to another.
Thousands then had the same name
●These family names were not passed on to children and degrees of consanguinity were
to difficult to identify
●On Nov 21, 1849,Governor General Don Narciso Claveria y Zaldua to adopt spanish
names and indigenous names from Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos
●Adpotion to spanish names were not mandatory but showed the prevalent colonial
mentality
●Families would be exempted if their name was on the catalog or if 4 genereations had
already used it
Did Rizal’s family & childhood shape him to be the man & patriot
that he is?
YES, his family became his inspiration. Nurtured & honed his
ideals, his philosophies and beliefs in life.
It was a starting point for the boy to build his opinions through his
experiences and what he grew up with.
QUIZ
●Who is the only brother of Rizal ?