CHAPTER 4:

Scholastic Triumphs at
Ateneo de Manila (1872 1877 )
 4 months after the execution of Gom-Bur-Za and

with Doa Teodora still in prison

Jose, was sent to Manila

He studied in the Ateneo Municipal

Under the supervision of the Spanish Jesuits

Bitter rival of the Dominican-owned College of

San Juan de Letran

 Formerly Escuela Pia (Charity School)

Established by City Government in 1817 for poor

boys in manila

1768 Jesuits expelled from Philippines

Returned to Manila in 1859

Later, became Ateneo de Manila

Rizal Enters the Ateneo
June 10, 1872 - Entrance Exam

Father Magin Ferrando, College Registrar

Manuel Xerez Burgos, (nephew of Father Burgos)

He use Rizal as his surname instead of Mercado

Boarded in a house outside Intramuros, on Caraballo

Street, (25 mins. away from college)

Titay (a spinster) owned the boarding house, and

owed the Rizals family the amount of P300
Jesuit System of Education
Promotes physical culture, humanities, and
scientific studies

Vocational courses on agriculture, commerce,

mechanics and surveying

Religiously operate the school

- mass every morning
- classes/subjects are open & close with prayer

Students were divided into two:

Roman Empire Internos (boarders)

Carthaginian Empire Externos (non- boarders)

Each empires had its Ranks:
Best Student Emperor;
2nd Best Tribune;
3rd Best Decurion;
4th Best Centurion;
5th Best Standard Bearer;

Student could challenge any officer in his

empire to answer questions on the days
lesson

Failure to answer correctly (3) times, an officer

could lose his position
Both banners were used equally in the classroom:

1st defeat left side of the room

2nd Inferior position on the right side

3rd Inclined flag was placed on the left

4th Flag was reversed and returned to the right

5th Reversed flag was placed on the left

6th Banner was changed with a figure of a donkey

Uniform
hemp-fabric trousers and striped cotton coat
Coat material was called rayadillo famous uniform of
Filipino troops during the 1st Philippine Republic
Rizal's First Year in Ateneo (1872 - 1873)

June, 1872, first day of class in Ateneo

Fr. Jose Bech, first professor of Rizal

He was an externo and was assigned to Carthaginians

At the end of the month he became "emperor"

He was the brightness pupil in the whole class

He took private lessons in Santa Isabel College and paid three

pesos for extra Spanish lessons

He placed seconds at the end of the year although his grades

were marked "Excellent"
Summer Vacation (1873)
March 1873, Rizal returned to Calamba for summer
vacation.

His sister Neneng (Saturnina) brought him to Tanawan

to cheer him up

Visited his mother in prison at Santa Cruz without

telling his father

After vacation, he returned to Manila for his 2nd year

term in Ateneo

He boarded inside Intramuros at No. 6 Magallanes

Street

Dona Pepay was his landlady, an old widow with a

widowed daughter and 4 sons.
Second Year in Ateneo (1873 1874)

He repented having neglected his studies the previous

year because he was offended by the teachers
remarks.

Rizal studied harder, and once more he became an

emperor after losing his class leadership

He had 3 classmates from Binan who had also been his

classmates in the school of Maestro Justiniano

At the end of the school year, he received excellent

grades in all subjects and a gold medal

With such honors, he triumphantly returned to

Calamba in March, 1874 for the summer vacation
Teenage Interest in Reading
During the summer vacation in Calamba (1874)

1st favorite novel of Rizal The Count of Monte Cristo

by Alexander Dumas

A voracious reader

Cesar Cantus historical work entitled Universal

History

Travels in the Philippines by Dr. Feodor Jagor, a

German scientist-traveler (1859 1860)
3rd Year in Ateneo (1874 1875)
Shortly after the opening of classes, his mother
was released from prison.

In the previous years, Rizal did not make an

excellent showing in his studies

He failed to win the medal in Spanish because his

spoken was not fluently sonorous

March, 1875 Rizal returned to Calamba for

summer vacation
4th Year in Ateneo (1875 1876)
June 16, 1875

He became an interno in Ateneo

Fr. Francisco de Paula Sanchez inspired him to

study harder and write poetry

"model of uprightness, earnestness and love

for the advancement of his pupils"

Rizal won five medals

Last Year in Ateneo (1876 1877)
June 1876, last year of Rizal in Ateneo

He was truly "the pride of the Jesuits"

Obtained highest grades in all subjects

Graduation with Highest Honors

"Excellent" scholastic records from 1872 to 1877

March 23, 1877, Commencement Day

Received the degree of Bachelor of Arts with

highest honors
Extra-Curricular Activities in Ateneo
An "emperor" inside the classroom and campus
leader outside

Secretary of the Marian Congregation

Member of Academy of Spanish Literature and the

Academy of Natural Sciences

Studied painting under the famous Spanish painter

Agustin Saez (left photo)

Sculpture under Romualdo de Jesus (right photo),

noted Filipino sculptor

Engaged in gymnastics and fencing

Father Jose Vilaclara advised him to stop communing

with the muses and pay more attention to practical
studies such as philosophy and natural science
Sculptural Works in Ateneo
Carved an image of The Virgin Mary on a piece of
batikuling (Philippine hardwood)

Father Lleonart requested him to carve an image of

the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The old Jesuit forgot to take the image with him to

Spain

Ateneo boarding students placed the image on the

door of the dormitory and remain there for many
years
Anecdotes of Rizal
Felix M. Ramos one of Rizals contemporaries in
Ateneo

Manuel Xerex Burgos whose house Rizal boarded

shortly before he became an interno in Ateneo

Poems Written in Ateneo

Mi Primera Inspiration (My First Inspiration) the
first poem Rizal probably wrote during his days in
Ateneo.
In 1875, inspired by Father Sanchez, he wrote more
poems such as:

Filicitacion (Felicitation)

El Embarque: Himno a la Flota de Magallanes

(The Departure Hymn to Magellans fleet)

Y Es Espanol: Elcano, the first to

circumnavigate the world)

El Combate: Urbiztondo Terror de Jolo (The

Battle: Urbiztondo, Terror of Jolo)
In 1876, Rizal wrote poems on various topics:

Un Recuerdo a Mi Pueblu (In Memory of My Town)

Alianza Intima Entre la Region Y La Buena Educacion

(Intimate Alliance Between Religion and Good
Education)

Por la Educacion Recibe Lustre La Patria (Through

Education the Country Receive Light)

E Cultivero Y El Triunfo (The Captivity and the

Triumph: Battle of Lucena and the Imprisonment of
Boabdil)

La Entrada Triuntal de Los Reyes Catolices en

Granada (The Triumphal Entry of The Catholic
Monarches into Granada)
A year later, in 1877 he wrote more poems:

El Heroismo de Colon (The heroism of

Colombus)

Colon y Juan II (Colombus and John II )

Gran Consuelo en la Mayor Desdicha

(Great Solace in Great Misfortune)

Un Diarogo Alusivo a la Despedida de los

Colegiales (A Farewell Dialogue of the
Students)
My First Inspiration
Why falls so rich a spray
of fragrance from the bowers
of the balmy flowers
upon this festive day?
Why from woods and vales
do we hear sweet measures ringing
that seem to be the singing
of a choir of nightingales?
Why in the grass below
do birds start at the wind's noises,
unleashing their honeyed voices
as they hop from bough to bough?
Why should the spring that glows
its crystalline murmur be tuning
to the zephyr's mellow crooning
as among the flowers it flows?
Why seems to me more
endearing,
more fair than on other days,
the dawn's enchanting face
among red clouds appearing?
The reason, dear mother, is
they feast your day of bloom:
the rose with its perfume,
the bird with its harmonies.
And the spring that rings with
laughter
upon this joyful day
with its murmur seems to say:
"Live happily ever after!"
And from that spring in the
grove
now turn to hear the first note
that from my lute I emote
to the impulse of my love.
Dramatic Work in Ateneo
Father Sanchez, his favorite teacher ask him to
write a drama based on the prose story of St.
Eustace the Martyr

Summer 1876 in Calamba, he wrote the religious

drama in poetic verses

June 2 1876, finished the manuscript

He submitted the finished manuscript entitled

San Eustacio, Martir (St. Eustace, the Martyr) to
Father Sanchez in his last academic year in
Ateneo
First Romance of Rizal

16 years old, experienced his first romance

Segunda Katigbak, a pretty 14 years old Batanguena

from Lipa

Sister of his friend Mariano Katigbak

His sister Olimpia was a close friend of Segunda in La

Concordia College
First Romance of Rizal
Segunda was already engaged to Manuel Luz

His first romance was ruined by his own shyness and

reserve

Segunda returned to Lipa and later married Manuel

Luz

Rizal remained in Calamba, a frustrated lover,

cherishing nostalgic memories of lost love
CHAPTER 4:
Scholastic Triumphs at
Ateneo de Manila (1872 1877 )

End of presentation