Austin Coates and his

work about Rizal

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Austin Coates

A British civil servant,

writer and traveler
Born in London in 1922
Son of noted English
composer Eric Coates
Wrote extensively on
topics related to the Asia-
Pacific region,
particularly Hong Kong
and Macau
 Journey
Our process is to
easythe East

Hong Kong
government
Royal Air (Asst.
Force Colonial
Chinese Affairs
Intelligence in Secretary
Officer in
India, Burma, and
Sarawak
Malaysia and Magistrate in
(1957-1959)
Indonesia in the New
WWII Territories)
(1949 to
1956)
 Austin
Our process Coates
is easy

First Secretary
Settled in Hong
of the British Left British civil
Kong and
High service to
continued
Commission, focus on
travelling and
Kuala Lumpur writing
writing
and Pensang (1962)
(1965)
(1959-1962)
 Austin Coates

After his visit with Gandhi, he decided that

understanding between East and

West was one of the most important goals
in the world.
Books
 Rizal:
Philippine
Nationalist and
Martyr
(1968)
Austin Coates
CHAPTER TITLE
I Youth in Medieval Twilight
II Journey into Light
III The Storm Breaks
Struggles, Darkness and
IV
Achievement
V On The Eve
VI The Deferment
VII The Signature Of Death
 Jose Rizal

Born on June 19, 1861 and died on

Dec. 30, 1896
Filipino poet and patriot
Exact contemporary of Tagore
Forerunner of Gandhi
Died before a Spanish firing squad
 JOSE RIZAL

His writings inspired the Philippine Revolution

of 1896-98, the earliest national uprising
against a colonial power in Asia.

But Rizal himself was eclipsed when the main

scene of Asia's struggle for independence
shifted from the Philippines to India.

In his own country he continues to be

revered as a national hero, and has had
greater influence on his people than any
other man.
 Jose Rizal is
Tagalog Christ.

Miguel de Unamuno
Spanish philosopher and writer
 Asian Contemporaries

Mahatma Gandhi

Sun Yat-Sen Rabindranath Tagore

 But as Darwin and Frazer he transcends both
country and continent.
 Harmony of Religion and Science

Rizal stands in Asia for what Renan and

Teilhard de Chardin stand for in the West, with
the difference that Rizal was killed for what he
believed, the instigators of his death being
Spanish friar missionaries out of touch with
Catholic changes in Europe.

Teilhard de
Ernest Renan
Chardin
French
French idealist
philosopher
philosopher and
Jesuit Priest
 Biography of Rizal

This, the first European biography of Rizal to

be published since 1907, when Retana'sVida y
Escritos del Dr. Jos Rizalappeared amid the
national soul-searching of Spain's 'Generation of
1898', restores to the place he deserves one of
the noblest figures Asia has ever produced.
CRITICISMS AND BOOK REVIEWS
One of the best biographies
of Jose Rizal
Amazon Book Review
 It is said to be written intellectually but the
style is accessible and easily understandable
because of the prose.
It is well researched and includes pieces of
information the writer did not know.
The book has a lot of errors.

Nicolas Crushner
Ateneo de Manila University
Philippine Studies vol. 18, no. 1 (1970): 207209
 Coates biography attempted to assess Rizals
role in the Propaganda movement and his
influence on the development of nationalism
Coates has given us an extremely readable
biography and some of Coates insight makes
us understand the motivation and events in
Rizals life
 However, the book has many factual errors.

Examples:
1. Mexicos gold financed the colonial government.
False. But silver from Mexico is brought to the colonial
government from galleon.
2. Rice Basket of Philippines is Calamba.
False. Pampanga-Nueva Ecija-Tarlac is the Rice Basket.

The book is poorly footnoted. Some

sources are given, some are not.
 Austin Coates may have created a
magnificent biography of Rizal but his limited
knowledge about Philippine history made his
work questionable.
He relied heavily on standard biographies
such as that of Leon Maria Guerreros The
First Filipino and Rafael Palmas The Pride of
the Malay Race without proper citation.
 It is not an adequate
biography of Rizal.
JOHN N. SCHUMACHER
The Journal of Asian Studies/ Volume 29 / Issue 01 / November
1969, pp 208-209
Published online: 23 March 2011
 It is a merit that Austin Coates attempted to
relate Rizal to Gandhi and Sun Yat-Sen.
It cannot be said that it is an adequate
biography of Rizal because of the accuracy of
the fact or of interpretation..
 The author does not document his sources and
although some parts are footnoted, some entries
are often attributed to Rizal or others without a
hint of the source thus affecting the credibility of
the book
Apart from a few facts concerning Rizals
stay in Hong Kong and his plan for a colony
in Borneo, this book has not in any way
surpassed Leon Maria Guerreros The First
Coates biography is inferior both for
facts and for interpreting the
thoughts of one of the most
extraordinary Asian thinkers.
THANK YOU