Established in Memory · MDCCCXCVI

Dr. José Rizal — The First Filipino seal

Dr. José Rizal

The First Filipino

Chapter Two

Chronology

Thirty-five years, set down in order, from Calamba to Bagumbayan.

  1. 1861Born 19 June in Calamba, Laguna, seventh of eleven children of Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso.
  2. 1869Writes his first known verses; learns Latin and Spanish from private tutors at home.
  3. 1872His mother is imprisoned on a false charge. The priests Gómez, Burgos and Zamora are executed at Bagumbayan.
  4. 1872Enters the Ateneo Municipal de Manila.
  5. 1877Graduates from the Ateneo with highest honours; enrols at the Universidad de Santo Tomás.
  6. 1879Wins a literary prize for the poem “A la Juventud Filipina” — a call to the Filipino youth.
  7. 1882Sails secretly for Spain; enrols at the Universidad Central de Madrid.
  8. 1884Receives the licentiate in medicine at Madrid.
  9. 1885Receives the licentiate in philosophy and letters; goes to Paris to study ophthalmology under Louis de Wecker.
  10. 1886Studies at Heidelberg under Otto Becker; begins his lifelong correspondence with Ferdinand Blumentritt.
  11. 1887Publishes Noli Me Tángere in Berlin. Returns to the Philippines in August; the book is condemned and banned.
  12. 1888Leaves again for Hong Kong, Japan, the United States, and London, where he annotates Morga's Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.
  13. 1889In Paris and Brussels; writes for La Solidaridad, including the essays on Filipino indolence and the future of the islands.
  14. 1891Publishes El Filibusterismo in Ghent, dedicated to the memory of the three martyred priests.
  15. 1892Returns to Manila 26 June and founds La Liga Filipina. Arrested 6 July; deported to Dapitan on 15 July.
  16. 1892–1896Exile in Dapitan: a school, a clinic, a waterworks, farming, natural history, sculpture, and the companionship of Josephine Bracken.
  17. 1896Volunteers as a physician in Cuba; sails in September. The Katipunan revolution erupts in August.
  18. 1896Arrested at sea and returned to Manila; imprisoned in Fort Santiago in November.
  19. 1896Court-martialled 26 December on charges of rebellion, sedition, and conspiracy; sentenced to death.
  20. 1896Executed by firing squad at Bagumbayan, 7:03 in the morning of 30 December, aged thirty-five.

Plates upon the Years

Mga larawan sa bawat yugto ng talaan.