CHAPTER 19

El Filibusterismo Published in
Ghent (1891)

Writing El Filibusterismo
Begun writing in October, 1887 while
in Calamba practicing medicine.
1888 - in London making change in
the plot and correcting some
chapters and also wrote some
chapters in Paris and Madrid
March 29, 1891 Finished the
manuscript in Biarritz.
All in all, Rizal finished the novel in 3
years.

Privations in Ghent

July 5, 1891, Rizal left Brussels for

Ghent, a famous university in the city
of Belgium.

Reasons for moving to

Ghent:
The cost of printing in Ghent was
cheaper than in Brussels.
To escape from the enticing
attraction of Petite Suzanne.

In Ghent, he met two

compatriots
Jose Alejandro (from Pampanga)
Edilberto Evangelista
Both are studying in the University of
Ghent

 Rizal lived in a cheap boarding house,

with Jose Alejandro as a room-mate . They
lived a very frugal life, subsisting on the
barest necessities. To economize further,
they prepared their own daily breakfast.
Years later, Alejandro became a general in
the Filipino-American war of 1899-1902
and an engineer, recounted their hard life
in Ghent (can be read in page 90-91).

The printing of El
Filibusterismo
F. MEYER VAN LOO PRESS, No. 66
Viaanderen Street.
He pawned his jewels to pay the
down payment and the early partial
payments

 Rizal became desperate because his

funds were running low and the
money that he expected from his
friends did not arrive. He had
received some money from Basa and
P200 from Rodriguez Arias for the
copies of Morgas Sucesos sold in
Manila. But these funds were already
used up and much more were
needed to pay the printer.

 July 1981, Rizal wrote to Basa about

his predicament in Ghent.
August 6, the printing had to be
suspended.

Ventura, Savior of the Fili

Rizal almost hurled the manuscript of Fili
into the flames, just as he almost did the
Noli in Berlin
When everything seemed lost, help came
from an Unexpected source. Valentin
Ventura in Paris learned of Rizals
situation and immediately sent him the
necessary funds. With his financial aid,
the printing of the Fili was resumed

The Fili Comes off the Press

September 18, 1981, El Filibusterismo came
off the press
Rizal sent two printed copies to Hong Kong
one for Basa and the other for Sixto Lopez.
The original manuscript and an autographed
printed copy was given to Valentin Ventura.
He sent other complimentary copies to
Blumentritt, Mariano Ponce, G. Lopez Jaena,
T.H. Pardo de Tavera, Antonio and Juan Luna
and other friends.

 The novel was praised by the Filipino

patriots in the foreign lands and in
the Philippines.
Members of the Filipino colony of
Barcelona newspaper published a
tribute in La Publicidad.
Comparable to Alexander Dumas
Liberal Madrid Newspaper, El Nuevo
Regimen serialized the novel on
October, 1891.

 All copies of the first edition (Ghent

edition), almost all were confiscated
so the book became rare.

Dedicated to Gom-Bur-Za
He dedicated El Filibusterismo to
them
His dedication can be read on page
Rizals Historical Inaccuracies
193
Their martyrdom was on February 17, 1872
Father Gomez was 73 years old
Father Burgos was 35 years old
Father Zamora was 37 years old

The Manuscript and the

Book
The original manuscript of El
Filibusterismo is now preserved in
the Filipiniana Division of the Bureau
of Public Libraries, Manila.
It was acquired from Valentin Ventura
for 10,000 pesos.
The Foreword and the Warning were
not included in the printed book to
save printed cost.

 The Foreword can be read on page

194 and the Warning on page 195.
The title page of El Filibusterismo
contains an inscription by Ferdinand
Blumentritt.
The inscription can be read on page
195.

Synopsis of El Filibusterismo
The Synopsis can be read on page
195-199
Like the Noli, El Filibusterismo were
drawn by Rizal in real life.

Noli and Fili Compared

The Noli is a romantic novel ; it is a work of
the heart a book of feeling; it has
freshness, color, humor, lightness and wit.
While the Fili is a political novel; it is a
work of the head a book of thought;
it contains bitterness, hatred, pain,
violence, and sorrow.
The intention was to make the Fili longer
but Rizal had to cut down the Fili due to
lack of funds.

Rizals Unfinished Third Novel

On September 22, 1891, four days after the
Fili came off the press, Rizal wrote to
Blumentritt about starting a third novel.
On October 18, 1891, he boarded the
steamer Melbourne in Marseilles bound for
Hong Kong.
He began writing the novel but for some
reason he did not finished it.
The unfinished novel has no title. It is
preserved in the National Library, Manila.

Rizals other unfinished

novels
Makamisa, a novel in Tagalog. It is
written in a light sarcastic style and
is incomplete for only two chapters
are finished.
Dapitan, written in ironic Spanish. He
wrote it during his exile in Dapitan to
depict the town life and customs
A novel in Spanish about the life in
Pili, a town in Laguna is also
unfinished

 Another unfinished novel written

without a title was about Cristobal, a
youthful Filipino student who has
returned from Europe.
Another novel is contained in two
notebooks. The author describes the
deplorable conditions of the
Philippines.

END
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