The Life, Works and Writings of Rizal

Soc Sci 106

THE TALENTS AND SKILLS OF JOS PROTASIO RIZAL

MERCADO Y ALONSO REALONDA

The Life, Works and Writings of Rizal

Rizal was a polymath, with the ability to master

various skills and subject.
ACTOR
He acted as a character in one of Juan
Lunas paintings and acted in school dramas.
ANTHROPOLOGIST
He made researches on the physical and
social make up of man.
ARCHEOLOGIST
Rizal studied monuments and antique
currency everywhere he went. He drew most of
the monuments he saw.
BOOK LOVER
He had a big library and brought many
books abroad. A favorite pastime in Madrid. He
stayed at home and read until midnight
BUSINESSMAN
He had a partner in Dapitan in the Abaca
business there (1892-1896). One of his
profitable business venture was the hemp
industry. Rizal engaged in business in
partnership with Ramon Carreon on May 14,
1893, a Dapitan Merchant which has a profitable
business ventures in fishing, copra, and hemp
industries. He invited his relative Saturnina and
Hidalgo to come to Mindanao for some business
opportunities.
CHESS PLAYER
He played chess and bear several
Germans
and
European
friends
and
acquaintances.

COMMENTATOR

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Rizal always expresses

and
publishes
his
personal opinion.
EDUCATOR
Rizal taught in
special
school
Dapitan.

his
in

His exile in
Dapitan gave him the
June 19, 1861 December 30, 1896
opportunity to put into
practice his educational ideas. In 1893, he
established a school which existed until the end
of his exile in July 1896. It began with three
pupils and in the course of time the enrollment
increased to 16 and later 21. In his letter to
Blumentritt on March 13, Rizal said that he
had 16 pupils in his school and these pupils did
not pay any tuition.
ESSAYIST
Reminiscence of a Student in Manila
(his first essay) The Philippines a Century
Hence (prophesied the downfall of Spain in
Asia)
ETHNOLOGIST
In his travels, Rizal was able to
compare different races and he noted the
differences.
He became a member of Berlin
Ethnological and Anthropological Society while
under the patronage of the famous pathologist
Rudolf Virchow.

FARMER
His total land holdings reached 70
hectares containing 6,000 hemp plants, 1,000
coconut trees, and numerous fruit trees,
sugarcane, corn, coffee and cacao. He devoted

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The Life, Works and Writings of Rizal

his time to agriculture and was able to bought

about 16 hectares of land in Talisay. There he
was able to plant cacao, fruit trees, sugarcane,
corn and coconuts.
FENCER
He fenced with Europeans and Juan
Luna and other friends in Europe.
GRAMMARIAN
Estudios Sobre la Tagala (a birthday
gift for his former instructor, Father Sanchez
who visited Rizal in Dapitan)
HISTORIAN
His annotation of Antonio de Morgas
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas entitled him as one

Soc Sci 106

While in Dapitan, Rizal also invented a

wooden machine for making bricks which
turned out about 6,000 bricks daily.
LINGUIST
He spoke over 22 languages including:
Tagalog Ilokano Bisayan Subanon Spanish
Latin Greek English French German Arabic
Malay Hebrew Sanskrit Dutch Catalan Italian
Chinese Japanese Portuguese Swedish Russian.
MUSICIAN
He played the flute and composed
pieces of music and cultivated music
appreciation.
NOVELIST
- Noli Me Tangere - El Filibusterismo

HORTICULTURIST

OPHTHALMOLOGIST

He experimented on and cultivated

plants in Dapitan.

He graduated in an ophthalmologic college

in Spain. His mother who lost her eyesight in
1887, encouraged him to take advanced training
in ophthalmology. Rizal is famous for this
profession -a practicing ophthalmologist and
that he was able to cure his own mothers
cataract. Rizal was known to have trained under
prominent European ophthalmologists- Otto
Becker and Louis de Wecker. He did practice the
professional backed in his hometown in
Calamba Laguna, while he was in Hong Kong
and while in exile at Dapitan.

ICHTHYOLOGIST
He collected 38 new varieties of fish in
Dapitan.
JOURNALIST
He authored several published articles in
Spanish and English.
JUDOKA
Rizal was the first Filipino and Malay to
have practiced and in fact, taught martial arts
sport. Jiguro Kano taught him the Way of Ju
which means the truth of the universe.
INVENTOR

PAINTER
Title:
Saturnina
Rizal
Material:
Oil
Remarks: Now in Rizal Shrine in Fort Santiago
PHILOSOPHER

He invented a cigarette lighter, which he

called sulpakan, and sent it to Blumentritt in
1887 as a gift.

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The Life, Works and Writings of Rizal

Rizal not only loved wisdom but also

regulated his life and enjoyed calmness of the
life
at
all
time.
PHYSICIAN
He treated several patients afflicted not
only with eye diseases.
POET
Rizal wrote over 35 poems including his
famous Mi Ultimo Adios, To The Philippines,
Our Mother Tongue, Memories of My town,
Hymn to Labor, Kundiman, A Poem That Has
No Title, Song of Maria Clara, To the
Philippines Youth, To Josephine, Education
Gives Luster to the Motherland, To the Virgin
Mary, Sa Aking mga Kabata and others.
POLITICIAN
Although Rizal did not engage in
politics, he exposed the evils of the political
activities of the Spaniards in the Philippines
through his writing.
REVOLUTIONIST
Rizal encouraged reforms; discouraged
old, impractical usage, and desired new and
useful laws to benefit his countrymen. He
desired changes for the better.
RHETORICIAN
Rizal has always practiced the art of persuasive
and impressive speaking and writing.
SCIENTIST
Rizals practice of many sciences here
and abroad made him noted scientist. Rizal does
loved science and discovery. He was able to
explore the rich virgin field of Mindanao and
was able to collect great specimens of lizards,
insects, bats, snakes etc. which he was able to

Soc Sci 106

send
in
a
SCULPTOR

museum

in

Europe.

His works of his father and of Father

Guerrico, S. J. typified his sculptural ability.
TRANSLATOR
Christmas message (Hebrew to Spanish)
William Tell and Andersen Fairy Tales (German
to Tagalog) The Rights of Man (French to
Tagalog) Zend-Avesta (Arabic to Spanish)
TRAVELER
He traveled around the world three
times.
TUBERCULOSIS EXPERT
For having cured himself of this disease,
he became and was recognized as an expert.
UNIVERSALIST
Rizal was the product of the very first
synthesis between the civilizations of the East
and the West. In his person embodied the ideals
of the both.
ZOOLOGIST
He was fond of pets. He researched
later on their physiology, classification and
habits. A regular contributor of specimens of
reptiles, mammals, birds, fish, insects,
crustaceans and other invertebrates to the
Dresden museum. When he was an exile in
Dapitan, he collected different kinds of species
of animals. Among there were the Draco Rizali
(Wandolleck), a specie of flying dragon;
Rachophorous Rizali (Boetger), a hithertho
unknown specie of toad; and Apogonia Rizali
(Heller), a small beetle, which were later named
after him.

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The Life, Works and Writings of Rizal

Soc Sci 106

Prepared by: Lyra Lorca, BSN III

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The Life, Works and Writings of Rizal

Soc Sci 106

Prepared by: Lyra Lorca, BSN III

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