All About Pepe: In Sunny Spain

“My country, my love, my people, i leave you now, you disappear, i lose sight of you.” -- Jose Rizal

Decision to go to Spain

Ø After finishing the fourth year of his medical course, Rizal decided to go to study in Spain.

Ø His elder brother readily approved his going to Spain and so did his two sisters Saturnina (Neneng) and Lucia.

Ø Rizal, however, did not seek his parents’ permission and blessings to go abroad, because he knew that they, especially his mother, would disapprove it.

Secret Mission

Ø To observe keenly the following:

life and culture
languages and customs
industries and commerce
Governments and laws of the European nations.

Departure for Spain

Ø Rizal’s departure was kept secret to avoid detection by the Spanish authorities and the friars

Ø The kind Jesuit priests gave him letters of recommendations to members of their Society in Barcelona.

Ø Rizal departed on May 3, 1882 boarded the Salvadora with the following route: Manila – Singapore – Colombo – through the Suez Canal – Naples and Marseiles – Barcelona.

Ø Only Uncle Antonio Rivera, Paciano, and his sisters, and some close friends knew of his departure.

Ø Paciano gave him P700, Saturnina gave him a diamond ring

Ø An allowance of P35 per month was promised by Paciano through Uncle Antonio

Ø Rizal used a passport named Jose Mercado

Singapore

Ø During his voyage he observed the people and things around him and compared them with those in the Philippines.

Ø He was the only Filipino on board.

Ø Rizal saw Singapore and was impressed by its progress and beautiful sights

Ø He admired the confidence of the natives of Singapore with their government

Ø Rizal stayed at Hotel de Paz for his two day stop over at singapore.

Ø He transferd to Djemnah, a French steamer bound to Europe

First trip to Suez Canal

Ø Djemnah was larger and cleaner than the Salvadora

Ø He tried to speak french

Ø After a week he reached Point de Galle, that afternoon they sailed and docked at Colombo Ceylon

Ø The steamer crossed the Indian Ocean to Cafe Guardafui in Africa. The trip was difficult because of a stormy weather. Rizal was sea sick

Ø On June 2 he arrived at the terminal of Suez Canal, enjoyed and was thrilled by the historic waterway

Naples and Marseilles

Ø Djemnah proceeded to Europe. June 11, Rizal reached Naples.

Ø This Italian City pleased him because of its business activity, its lively people, and its panoramic beauty

Ø Night of June 12, the steamer docked at the French harbor of Marsielles

Ø He visited the Chateau d’If, where Dantes, the hero in The Count of Monte Cristo was imprisoned.

Ø He stayed three days in Marseilles, enjoying every day of his sojourn

Barcelona

Ø At Marseilles, Rizal took the train to Barcelona

Ø Rizal reached his destination – Barcelona on June 16, 1882.

Ø Rizal found Barcelona to be a great city. With an atmoshpere of freedom and liberalism, and its people were open-hearted, hospitable and courageous.

Ø The Filipinos in Barcelona, some of whom were his schoolmates in Ateneo, welcomed Rizal. They threw a party for Rizal at their favorite café in Plaza de Cataluna.

Amor Patrio

Ø In Barcelona, Rizal wrote a nationalistic essay entitled “Amor Patrio” (Love of Country).

Ø He wrote this essay on the request of his friend, Basilio Teodoro Moran, publisher of the first bilingual newspaper in Manila, the Diariong Tagalog on August 20, 1882. (Spanish and Tagalog)

Ø He wrote this essay using the pen name Laong Laan.

Ø The essay caused quite a stir among the readers in the Philippines.

“Child we love play; Adolescent we forget it; youth, we seek our ideal; disillusioned, we weep and go in quest of something more positive and more useful; parent, the children die and time gradually erases our pain just as the air of the sea slowly effaces the shores as the boat departs from them. But, love of country can never be effaced, once it has entered the heart, because it carries in itself the divine stamp that makes it eternal and imperishable.”

“It has always been said that love is the most potent force behind the most sublime deeds; very well, of all loves, the love of country is what produced the greates, the most heroic…Read history…”

Los Viajes and Revisita de Madrid

Ø The Editor of Diarong Tagalog, Francisco Calvo, conratulated Rizal for the article and requested him for more article.

Ø In response to his request, he wrote his second article Los Viajes (Travels)

Ø His third ariticle was Revisita de Madrid (Review of Madrid). Unfortunately, it was returned to him because the Diarong Tagalog had ceased publication.

Rizal Moves to Madrid

Ø Rizal received a sad news about the cholera that was ravaging Manila and the provinces.

Ø On a letter he received from Paciano dated September 15, 1882, the Calamba folks were having afternoon novenas and nocturnal procession, praying to God to stop the dreadful epidemic

Ø Another sad news he received was from Chengoy (Jose M. Cecilio) telling how Leonor Rivera was getting thinner because of the absence of a love one

Ø Upon Paciano’s advise, Rizal left Barcelona in the fall of 1882 and established himself in Madrid, the capital of Spain.

Ø At Madrid he enrolled at the Universidad Central de Madrid (Central University of Madrid) on November 3, 1882

Ø There he took two courses: Medicine and Philosophy and Letters.

Ø Aside from his studies, Rizal also took painting and sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos

Ø Rizal also took private lessons in French, German, and English;

Ø Rizal led a Spartan life in Madrid. He lived frugally, spending his money only on food, clothing, lodging, and books.

Ø His only “vice” was taking part in the Madrid Lottery.

Ø He spends his leisure time reading and writing at his boarding house, attending reunions with fellow Filipino students and practicing fencing and shooting.

Ø Amongst Rizal’s collection of books are:

Bible

Hebrew Grammar

Lives of the Presidents of the U.S.

Complete Works of Voltaire

Complete Works of Horace

Complete Works of C. Bernard

History of the French Revolution

The Wandering Jew

Ancient Poetry

Works of Thucydides

The Byzantine Empire

The Characters by La Bruyere

The Renaissance

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet

Beecher Stowe

Works of Alexander Dumas

Louis XIV and His Court

Consuelo Ortiga y Perez

Ø During Rizal’s stay in Madrid, he would frequently visit the home of Don Pablo Ortiga y Rey who lived with his son Rafael and daughter Consuelo.

Ø Don Pablo was a former city mayor of Manila during the administration of the liberal governor general Carlos Ma. De la Torre.

Ø Rizal was attracted by Consuelo’s beauty and vivacity. As he made a poem entitled A La Senorita C.O. y P. to express his admiration for her.

Ø Rizal, however, backed out from his romance with Consuelo because

Ø (1) he was still engaged with Leonor Rivera and

Ø (2) his friend and co-worker in the Propaganda Movement, Eduardo de Lete was madly in love with Consuelo.

Circulo Hispano-Filipino

Ø Shortly after arriving in Madrid in 1882, Rizal joined the Circulo Hispano-Filipino, a society of liberal Spaniards and Filipinos.

Ø As a member of this society Rizal wrote a poem entitled “Me Piden Versos” (They ask me for Verses)

Masonry

Ø Freemasonry or the Masons, were a secret society composed of liberal and republican Spaniards in Spain. Amongst them were prominent and intellectual Spaniards.

Ø The Spanish Masons openly and freely criticized the government policies and particularly lambasted the friars.

Ø In March 1883, Rizal joined the Masonic lodge called Acacia in Madrid. His Masonic name was Dimasalang

Ø Later he transferred to Lodge Solidaridad where he became a Master Mason.

Ø Rizal joined Freemasonry to secure their aid in the fight against the Friars in the Philippines.

Ø Amongst the prominent members of the Masons, included, Miguel Morayta, statesman and professor; Francisco Pi y Margal, journalist and former President of the short-lived First Spanish Republic; Manuel Becerra, Minister of Ultramar; Emilio Junoy, journalist and member of the Spanish Cortes; and Juan Zorilla, parliamentarian and head of the Republican Progressive Party.

Ø Two reasons why he became a Mason:

· The bad friars in the Philippines unworthy of their priestly habit or calling

· He needed the help of the Masons to fight the bad friars in the Philippines. (it was a shield to use in his fight against the evil forces of tyranny)

Financial Worries

Ø Because of drought and locust the harvest of rice and sugarcane failed in Calamba.

Ø The manager of the Dominican-owned hacienda increased the rentals of the lands cultivated by the Rizal family

Ø Due to this the monthly allowances of Rizal in Madrid were late in arrival and there were times when they never arrived.

Ø On June 24, 1884 because Rizal was broke, he was unable to eat his meals for the day.

Ø He attended his class in the university with an empty stomach.

Ø Rizal even participated in a Greek language contest and won the gold medal.

Ø Fortunately, in the evening, Rizal was the guest speaker at banquet held in honor of Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, where Rizal was able to eat dinner.

Salute to Luna and Hidalgo

Ø National Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid - 1884

Ø The Filipino community in Spain sponsored a banquet to celebrate the double victory of the Filipino artist in the National Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid.

Ø Juan Luna, with his Spoliarium won the first prize.

Ø Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo won the second prize with his Christian Virgins Exposed to the Populace

Ø Rizal in his speech, saluted Luna and Hidalgo as two glories for Spain and the Philippines, whose artistic achievements transcended geographical frontiers and racial origins.

Ø In Rizal’s speech, he said genius is universal.

“Genius knows no country, genius sprouts everwhere, genius is like light, air, the patrimony of everybody, cosmopolitan like space, like life, like God.”

Student Demonstrations

Ø Nov. 20-22, 1884 the city of Madrid exploded in bloody riots by the students of Unibersidad Central de Madrid.

Ø Dr. Miguel Morayta, professor of history, at the opening ceremonies of the academic year proclaimed the “freedom of science and the teacher.”

Ø Such liberal view was condemned by the Catholic bishops of Spain, and promptly excommunicated Dr. Morayta.

Ø Angered by the bigotry of the Catholic bishops, the university students rose in violent demonstrations.

Ø Practically all students in various colleges joined the massive demonstrations including Rizal, Valentin Ventura and other Filipinos.

Ø Many university professors openly supported the student rioters.

Ø Bloody fights raged in the university buildings and in the city streets. The students armed with clubs, stones, and fists, fought the government forces.

Ø Fortunately, Rizal and other Filipinos did not received even a cane blow, nor taken prisoner, nor arrested.

Completion of Studies

Ø The academic year 1884-1885 Rizal passed all subjects leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

Ø Rizal completed his medical course in Spain. He was awarded the Degree of Licentiate in Medicine by the Universidad Central de Madrid on June 21, 1884.

Ø The next academic year (1884-85) he studied and passed all subjects leading to the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. However, he was not awarded his Doctors Diploma because he did not present his thesis nor paid the corresponding fees

Ø Rizal also finished his studies in Philosophy and Letters and was awarded the degree on June 19, 1885, his 24^th birthday.

Ø By obtaining a degree in Philosophy and Letters, Rizal became qualified to be a professor of humanities in any Spanish university.

Ø He did not bother to secure the post-graduate degree of Doctor of Medicine because it was also good only for teaching.

Ø Rizal knew, however, that with his brown color and Asian racial ancestry no friar-owned university or college in the Philippines would accept him in its faculty staff.