Rizal’s Education at

Ateneo Municipal

Cantiga Jecho T.
Rizal Enters the Ateneo
 Fr. Magin Ferrando’s reason for
refusal of admission of Rizal to the
University

• He was late for registration.

• He was sickly and undersized for his age.
 Jesuit System of Education
Trained the character of the student.
Promoted physical culture, fine arts and
scientific studies.
Leading to the degree of A.B.
Offered vocational courses in agriculture,
commerce and mechanics.
 Division of students
Roman Empire Carthaginian Empire
internos ( boarders) externos (non- boarders
Rank per empire
• Emperor
• Tribune
• Decurion
• Centurion
• Standard-bearer
 Rayadillo
‘hemp- fabric
trousers” and
“stripped cotton
coat”.
 Rizal’s First Year in Ateneo(1872-73)

• June 1872
• Rizal saw a great number of boys,
Spaniards, mestizos and Filipinos.
 Fr. Jose Bech
“ tall, thin man, with a body slightly
bent forward, a hurried walk, ascetic
face, severe and inspired, small
deep- sunken eyes, a sharp nose
that was almost Greek, and thin lips
forming an arc whose ends fell
toward the chin.”
Took private lessons in Santa Isabel
College during noon recesses. He
paid three pesos for those extra
Spanish lessons.
 Summer Vacation (1873)
end of March 1873
• Rizal returned to Calamba and suddenly went
to Tanawan.
• Rizal did not particularly enjoy his vacation
Rizal returned to Manila for his second year
term in the Ateneo. This time he boarded
inside Intramuros at No. 6 Magallanes Street.
 Second Year in Ateneo ( 1873-74)
• He repented having neglected his studies the
previous year.
• Some of his classmates were new. Among
them were three boys of Biñan, who had been
his classmates in the school of Maestro
Justiniano.
• Received excellent grades in all subjects and a
gold medal.
 Prophecy of Mother’s Release
• He visited his mother at the provincial
jail.
• gladdened Dona Teodora’s lonely heart
with his scholastic triumphs and funny
tales about his professor and fellow
students.
• He interpreted his mother’s dream.
 Teenage interest in Reading
• Summer vacation in 1874 in Calamba when
Rizal began to take interest in reading
romantic novels.
• Favorite Novels :
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander
Dumas.
He persuaded his father to buy him a costly
set of Cesar Cantu’s historical work- Universal
History.
 Travels in the Philippines by Dr. Feodor Jagor

• Jagor’s keen observations of the defects of

Spanish colonization.
• His prophecy that someday Spain would lose
the Philippines and that America would come
to succeed her as colonizer.
 Third Year in Ateneo (1874-75)
• His grades remained excellent in all subjects,
but he won only one medal in Latin. Rizals
mom free from prison
• He failed to win the medal in Spanish.
• Was beaten by the Spaniard. Fluent in spanish
language
• at the end of school year (March, 1875)
returned to Calamba for summer vacation.
“ I returned dissatisfied to my home town.”
 Fourth Year in Ateneo(1875-76)
• June 14,1875) became an internee in the
Ateneo.
• Rizal gain interest in studying and writing
poetry.
• He resume his study with vigor and zest.
• He topped all his classmates in all subjects and
won five medals at the end of the school
term.
Fr. Francisco
Sanchez
• Jesuit
professor
• “ a model of
rectitude,
solicitude, and
devotion to his
pupils’
progress.”
 Last Year in Ateneo (1876-77)
• His studies continue to fare well, he
excellent in all subjects.
• Finished his last year in the Ateneo in a
blaze of glory. He obtained the highest
grades in all subjects- philosophy,
physics, biology, chemistry, languages,
mineralogy, etc.
Graduation with Highest Honor’s
First Year
Arithmetic……………………… excellent
Latin 1…………………………….excellent
Spanish 1………………………..excellent
Greek 1…………………………..excellent
 Second Year

Latin2…………………………. excellent
Spanish 2…………………….excellent
Greek 2……………………….excellent
Universal Geography……excellent
 Third Year
Latin 3……………………………………………..…………………………excellent
Spanish3……………………………………………………………………excellent
Greek 3………………………………………………………………………excellent
Universal History………………………………………………………..excellent
History of Spain and the Philippines…………………...........excellent
Arithmetic and Algebra…………………………………………......excellent
Rhetoric and Poetry………………………………………………..... excellent
French 1 ………………………………………………………………….. excellent
Geometry and Trigonometry……. ………………………........excellent
 Fourth Year
Philosophy 1………………………………… excellent
Mineralogy and Chemistry……. ……excellent
Philosophy 2……………………………….. excellent
Physics……………………………………….. excellent
Botany and Zoology……… ……………excellent
 March 23, 1877 – Graduation day
• 16 years old- received the highest honors.
“ commencement day was a time of bitter
sweetness, a joy mellowed with poignancy.”
• Prayed fervently at the college chapel and he
said “ to the Virgin so that she might protect
me when I set foot in that world which
inspired me with such dread.”
Extra-curricular Activities at Ateneo
 secretary of a religious society, the Marian
Congregation.
Member of the Academy of Spanish literature
and the Academy of Natural Sciences.
Studied painting under the famous Spanish
painter, Agustin Saez and sculpture under
Romualdo de Jesus, noted Filipino sculpture.
Engaged in gymnastics and fencing.
 Sculptural Works in Ateneo
Carved an image of our
Virgin Mary on a piece of
batikuling (Philippine
hardwood) with his pocket
knife.
 Sacred Heart of
Jesus
Requested by:
Fr. Lleonart

placed on the
dormitory, and
there it remained
for nearly 20
years.
 Anecdote on Rizal the Atenean
According to Felix M. Roxas
He related an incident of Rizal’s schooldays in
the Ateneo which revels the hero’s resignation
to pain and forgiveness.
According to Manuel Xeres Burgos
Anecdote that illustrates Rizal’s predilection to
help the helpless at the risk of his own life.
 Poems in the Ateneo
First poem during his days at the Ateneo
Mi Primera Inspiracion – he wrote it before he
was 14 years old.
In 1875, inspired by Father Sanchez, he
wrote more poems such as:
( The Departure: Hymn to Magellan’s feet).
1. Felicitacion ( Felicitation)
2. El Embarque: Himmo a la Flota de Magallanes
(The departure: Hymm to magellan’s Fleet).
3. Y Es Espanol ( And he is Spanish; Elcano, the
First to Circumnavigate to the World)
4. El Combate ( The Battle : Urbiztondo, Terror
of Jolo)
In 1876, Rizal wrote poems on various topics-
religion, education, childhood memories, and
war. They were as follows:
1. La Tragedia de San Eustaquio (the Tragedy of
St. Eustace).
2. Un Recuerdo a Mi Pueblo ( In Memory of my
Town).
3. Alianza Intima Entre la Religion y la Buena
Educacio ( Intimate Alliance Between Religion
and Good Education).
4. Por la Educacion Recibe Lustre la Patricia
(Through Education the country receives light).
5. El Cautiverio y el Triunjo: Batlla de Lucena y
Prison de Boabdil ( The captivity and the
Triumph : The Battle of Lucena and the
imprisonment of Boabdil).
6. La Entrada Triuntal de los Reyes Catolicos en
Granada ( The triumphal Entry of the Catholic
Monarchs into Granada).
A year later , in 1877, he wrote more poems. It
was his last year in the Ateneo. Among the
poems written this year was:
1. El Heroismo de Colon ( The Heroism of
Columbus).
2. Colon y Juan II ( Columbus and John II)
3. Gran Consuelo en la Mayor Desdicha ( Great
Comfort in Great Misfortune).
4. Un Dialogo Alusivo a la Despedida de los
Colegiales (A farewell Dialogue of the
Students).
 First Romance of Rizal
“ painful experience which comes to nearly all
adolescents”
Segunda Katigbak- a pretty fourteen- year old
Bataguena from Lipa.
“she was rather short, with eyes that were
eloquent and ardent at times and languid at
others, rosy cheeks, with an enchanting and
provocative smile that revealed very beautiful
teeth, and the air of a sylph; her entire self
diffused a mysterious charm.”
“ Ended , at an early hour, my first
love! My virgin heart will always
mourn the reckless step it took on the
flowered- decked abyss. My illusions
will return, yes but indifferent,
uncertain, ready for the first betrayal
on the path of love.”
-Fin-