in

Jose Rizal
Biography

On June Calamba
19, 1861, in the
José Philippin
Protasio es'
Rizal Laguna
Mercado Province.
y Alonso A
Realonda brilliant
was born student
https://www.biography.com/people/jos%C3%A9-rizal-39486
who in
became Manila.
proficient In 1882,
in he
multiple traveled
language to Spain
s, José to
Rizal complete
studied his
medicine medical
https://www.biography.com/people/jos%C3%A9-rizal-39486
degree. that
While accompa
living in nied
Europe, Spain's
Rizal colonial
wrote rule of
about his
the country.
discrimin He
ation returned
https://www.biography.com/people/jos%C3%A9-rizal-39486
to the reform.
Philippin Although
es in he
1892, supporte
but was d
exiled peaceful
due to change,
his Rizal was
desire convicte
for d of
https://www.biography.com/people/jos%C3%A9-rizal-39486
sedition first
and novel, N
executed oli Me
on Tangere (
Decembe Touch
r 30, Me
1896, at Not/The
age 35. Social
He also Cancer),
wrote his a work
https://www.biography.com/people/jos%C3%A9-rizal-39486
that es, with
detailed particular
the dark focus on
aspects the role
of of
Spain's Catholic
colonial friars.
rule in The
the book
Philippin was
https://www.biography.com/people/jos%C3%A9-rizal-39486
banned of this
in the novel,
Philippin Rizal's
es, return to
though the
copies Philippin
were es in
smuggle 1887 was
d in. cut short
Because when he
https://www.biography.com/people/jos%C3%A9-rizal-39486
was
August 1896, Katipunan, a nationalist
Filipino society founded by Andres
Bonifacio, revolted. Though he had no ties
to the group, and disapproved of its
violent methods, Rizal was arrested

targeted
shortly thereafter.

After a show trial, Rizal was convicted of

sedition and sentenced to death by firing

by
squad. Rizal's public execution was
carried out in Manila on December 30,
1896, when he was 35 years old. His
execution created more opposition to
Spanish rule.

police. Spain's control of the Philippines ended in

1898, though the country did not gain
lasting independence until after World
War II. Rizal remains a nationalist icon in
the Philippines for helping the country
take its first steps toward independence.

Rizal returned to Europe and continued to

write, releasing his follow-up novel, El
Filibusterismo (The Reign of Greed) in
1891. He also published articles in La
Solidaridad, a paper aligned with the
Propaganda Movement. The reforms Rizal
advocated for did not include
independence—he called for equal
treatment of Filipinos, limiting the power
of Spanish friars and representation for the
Philippines in the Spanish Cortes (Spain's
parliament).Rizal returned to the
Philippines in 1892, feeling he needed to
be in the country to effect change.
Although the reform society he founded,
the Liga Filipino (Philippine League),
supported non-violent action, Rizal was
still exiled to Dapitan, on the island of
Mindanao. During the four years Rizal
was in exile, he practiced medicine and
took on students.In 1895, Rizal asked for
permission to travel to Cuba as an army
doctor. His request was approved, but in

https://www.biography.com/people/jos%C3%A9-rizal-39486