THE SOPHIST’S

WORLD
WAS RIZAL A DOCTOR?
“It is rumored here that you will finish
your course in medicine in Barcelona,
and not in Madrid; as I see it, the
principal purpose of your going was not
to perfect yourself in this profession, but
in other things of greater value to you,
or to which you are more inclined. This
is why I believe you should go on to
Madrid, the center of all provinces…..It
is better for you to be there with your
countrymen, who will be able to advise
you while you are not yet in the current
of things…” - Paciano
 JOURNEY TO MADRID
• On May 3, 1882 Jose Rizal
secretly left the country
aboard S.S. Salvadora. Only
his brother Paciano, two
sisters, and few close friends
knew his secret departure.
• When he reached Barcelona, Spain,
he came into contact with Filipinos
who were plotting revolution.
• Barcelona was a rendezvous for
radicals and revolutionaries. It left
him surer than ever that. As he had
written 6 years before, education
must give his country light before
she could hope for more freedom.
• From Barcelona Rizal went to
Madrid and enrolled in medicine at
the Universidad Central de Madrid
on November 3, 1882. Later he
enrolled in philosophy and letters as
expressed in his letter to his parents
and brother:
• Still he found time for more lessons in
drawing and painting and studied
languages under special teachers.
• Rizal studied painting and sculpture
at the Academy of San Carlos and
drawing at the Academia de Bellas
Artes de San Fernando, Madrid.
• He also found time to study
French, German, and English.
Rizal’s varied education
helped him assimilate all
these influences into his
nationalistic thoughts and
writings.
THE DIARIONG
TAGALOG
• On August 1, 1882 the Diariong
Tagalog was founded, the first
Philippine bilingual newspaper. This
paper published nationalist and
reformist articles. Because of lack of
funds, the paper ceased publication on
October 31, 1882. In a short period
after his arrival in Spain, Rizal wrote
an essay “El Amor Patrio”, which
means “love of country” or
patriotrism.
• Jose Ma. Cecilio told Rizal: “In the
Diariong Tagalog of the 20th of this
month is published your article ‘El Amor
Patrio’.
• Rizal’s essay “El Amor Patrio” appeared
in the Manila newspaper Diariong
Tagalog on August 20, 1882under the
pen name Laong-Laan, which means
“ever prepared”. It alerted Spanish
officials to Rizal’s nationalistic
tendencies.
• He was able to explain his views
through this essay. Emphasizing
that the Philippines is the country
for Filipinos and not for Spain.
• He was able to show his love for
his country. It was translated in
Tagalog by Marcelo H. del Pilar
and became popular among
reformers in Manila.
• Francisco Calvo, the editor-in-chief
of the Diariong Tagalog, urged Rizal
to write more articles for the
publication. Among the articles
Rizal wrote included “Travels” (“Los
Viajes” and “Review of Madrid”
(“Revista de Madrid”), which
unfortunately was not published
anymore because the newspaper
had ceased publication.
THE CIRCULO
HISPANO-
FILIPINO
•During his first year in
Madrid, Rizal became
part of a Filipino student
organization known as
Circulo Hispano-Filipino.
•It was established in
1882 by a group of
Filipino students in
Madrid led by Juan
Atayde, a Spaniard born
in Manila and a military
officer.
•Supported by a group
of peninsulares, the
organization aimed to
voice out the concerns
of Filipinos.
•Notable members of
the organization
included Jose Rizal,
Marcelo H. del Pilar,
Juan Luna, and
Graciano Lopez Jaena.
•The organization was
able to publish the
Revista del Circulo
Hispano-Filipino, a
newspaper aimed at
expressing thoughts
about the abusive
Spanish government.
 THE
BANQUET
SPEECH
• In 1884 in Madrid, Juan Luna
and Felix Resurrection Hidalgo
won gold and silver prizes,
respectively, during the national
exhibition of fine arts.
• At a victory banquet held on
June 25, 1884 Jose Rizal gave a
toast that made history.
• In his speech Rizal stated
that the hold of Spain
over the Philippines was
rapidly ending. It was one
of the earliest
pronouncements of a new
nationalism.
• Just as fame beckoned, Rizal found
out that his family was worried
about the impact of his “toast
speech” and his joining the Masonry.
Paciano informed his brother that
his family was visibly upset with his
sudden political impact if he
returned home. He warned his
brother that he might not be
welcome in the family.
• As a result of this controversy, Jose
decided to continue his education.
He had planned for some time to
study in Germany.
• In a brief span of time, he would
earn the name “The First Filipino”
for his pronouncements on
Philippine nationalism.
 THE
MASONRY
• One of the least known
facets of the life of national
hero Dr. Jose Rizal was his
being a member of a
worldwide fraternity called
Freemasonry.
• While he studied in Spain
in 1883, Rizal joined the
Masonic Acacia Lodge in
Madrid. Rizal was taken
aback by the free-
thinking.
• According to Filipino historian
Reynaldo Fajardo, in his book
“Dimasalang: The Masonic Life of Dr.
Jose Rizal,” Rizal was not only a
Mason, he was the only one among
the leaders of the revolutionary
movement during the Spanish era
who “deserved to be called an
international Mason lodges in Spain,
Germany, France, and possibly,
England.
• According to Fajardo, at the time
Rizal was studying in Binan and
Manila, Masonry was relatively
unknown in the Philippines.
• Masonic Lodges were very few and
most of their members were
Spaniards. However Rizal’s uncle,
Jose Alberto Alonzo, was a Mason
and lived in Spain.
• Alonzo was made a Knight of the
Order of Carlos III and later King
Amadeo, also a Mason, made him
a Knight Commander of the Order
of Isabel the Catholic.
• Rizal’s elder brother, Paciano, also
had several links with Spanish
Masons in the Philippines during
the latter’s student days in Manila.
• On Rizal’s way to Madrid, his
ship docked Naples on June
11, 1882. He took a coach for
a tour and he saw numerous
posters put up by Masons
announcing the death of
Giuseppe Garibaldi, their
Grand Master.
• Rizal joined the Acacia Lodge No.9
in Madrid under the Gran Oriente
de Espana. So far there is no exact
date as to when Rizal was initiated;
but based on a photograph of him
wearing the habiliments of the
Mason, historians deduced that he
must have been around 23 years old
then.
• The Spanish Masons proclaimed a new
era of freedom from restrictions of
government and the church.
• Joining the Mason order made sense
because it was dedicated organization
which pointed out the friars’ abuses in
the Philippines.
• It was an acknowledgement that the
Spanish government in Manila needed
to reform itself.
• What was the significant
of joining a Masonic order?
It was an act that helped
Rizal’s political reputation.
The Masons were known
for their liberal ideas.
 THE
DEGREES
• The only balm Rizal found for
homesickness was hard work.
He never failed in his classes
though in Madrid he carried
2 courses simultaneously.
• In medicine he received “fair” in
2 subjects, “good” in 4, and
“excellent” in 2. In Philosophy
and Letters he received “good” in
1, “very good” in 1, “excellent”
in 4, “excellent with prize” in one
(Greek and Latin Literature), and
“excellent with free scholarship”
in 2 (Spanish Literature and the
Arabic language).
• Among the many books which
he read, 2 made an especially
deep impression upon him, for
they give him one answer to
the question he was forever
asking: How could he meet his
country’s need?
• The 1st book was Harriet
Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s
Cabin, which had been such a
potent factor in arousing
American sentiment against
slavery before Lincoln finally
issued the emancipation
proclamation.
• Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life
Among the Lowly, is an anti-
slavery novel by American
author Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Published in 1852, the novel
"helped lay the groundwork
for the Civil War", according
to Will Kaufman.
• The other book, which affected Rizal even
more deeply, was Eugene Sue’s The
Wandering Jew.
• The prologue of the text describes two
figures who cry out to each other across
the Bering Straits. One is the Wandering
Jew, the other his sister, Hérodiade. The
Wandering Jew also represents
the cholera epidemic— wherever he goes,
cholera follows in his wake.[1]
• The Wandering Jew and Hérodiade are
condemned to wander the earth until
the entire Rennepont family has
disappeared from the earth. The
connection is that the descendants of
the sister are also the descendants of
Marius de
Rennepont, Huguenots persecuted
under Louis XIV by the Jesuits.
• He received his Licentiate in
Philosophy and Letters and
Licentiate in Medicine in
1885. The licentiate is an
undergraduate degree similar
to the bachelor’s degree but
with a more vocational focus.
• Further medical education was not
required to call oneself a physician
or to practice medicine at that
time. Nevertheless one could obtain
a doctorate after passing
examinations and writing an
approved thesis.
• Later on Rizal denounced the
usefulness of the doctorate degree:
• History and historians doubt
whether Rizal finished his doctorate
in medicine. Oddly enough it would
appear that, contrary to the
general assumption, he never got
his doctorate in medicine although
he took and passed the courses in
the history of medicine, surgical
analysis, and normal histology in
1884-1885.
• However, he never submitted
his doctoral thesis. He was
never really a “doctor” Rizal
as he would be known for
posterity.
• In the long correspondence with the
authorities of the university, which
he started from Geneva in June
1887, he requested only the
issuance of his licentiate; this was
applied and paid for in his name by
Julio Llorente, who for some reason
or another asked that it be sent to
the Governor in Manila, where it
was promptly lost;
 so that after a typical
bureaucratic jumble, Rizal had
to be content with a certified
copy, which he received from
the Spanish Consul General in
Hong Kong in May 1892, 8
years after his graduation.
 OTHER
WRITINGS
• How he longed to go back to
his moother! But he must
continue studying medicine
until he could restore her
sight. So he fought down his
longing to return although
“homesickness invaded his
spirit every hour...”
• In the first and most acute
stages of his longing for home,
his mother wrote asking him
to write poetry, and he
poured into the answer all the
melancholy of his aching soul.
It was publish on October
7,1882.
THEY ASK ME FOR VERSES
They ask me to play on a lyre
That long has been still and decayed,
But never a note have I played,
Nor can I the Muse re-inspire.
She chats without reason or fire
Until she has tortured my brain.
She chuckles to jeer at my pain;
She has mocked me the while I lamented.
In my soul, lonely,sad, and tormented,
Neither pleasure nor sorrow remain.
 There once was a time, it is true- -
A time that, alas, has departed.
When friends who were generous-hearted,
Applaunded the verse I could do.
Of those happy days but few
Obscured recollections yet stay,
As after some high holiday,
Still linger myterious sounds;
Or, after the concerts resounds,
The after tones whisper away.
 For I am a plant immature,
Torn out of the Orient where
The perfumes sleep on the air
And life is a dream to allure.
Ah, memories ever endure,
My Country, of songs taught to me
By warbling birds from the tree,
The waterfall’s silvery roar,
And out on the far-reaching shore,
The moan of the sounding sea.
 While yet I was merely a child
I knew how to smlie at your sun,
And inside my breast had begun,
Like volcanic fires to burn wild,
The desire that the verses complied
By a poet’s keen vigorous mind,
Might cry to the swift moving wind;
“Speed away, and sing to proclaim
To the furthermost zones, of Her fame.
In earth and in heaven enshrined!”
 I left Her, my Motherland home,
A tree stripped of leaves and turned dry.
Now gone are the carols that I
Once sang, e’er I started to roam
And churned the vast ocean’s white foam,
To escaped from my dread destiny:
Too foolish as yet to forsee
That instead of the good which I sought,
I should plow from the ocean waves naught
But a specter of death haunting me.
 For all of my dream laden hours,
Love, eagerness, castle in air,
Beneath the blue skies I left there
In that faraway region of flowers.
Ah, do not appeal to my powers
To sing about love, for, like lead,
My heart is weighed down, and in dread
I roam through this waste without pease;
The pangs in my soul never cease,
And all inspiration is dead.
• A request had come from
the Philippines for Jose to
write a song to celebrate the
raising of Lipa, Batangas,
into a villa. He sent them
the following poem, which
arrived after the celebration
had passed.
 HYMN TO WORK

CHORUS
For our country in war
For our country in peace
The Filipino will be ready,
While he lives and when he dies.
 MEN:
As soon as the East is tinted with light
Forth to the fields to plow the loam!
Since it is work that sustains the man,
The motherland, family and the home.
Hard though the soil may prove to be,
Implacable the sun above,
For motherland, our wives and babes,
‘Twill be easy with our love.
 WIVES:
Courageously set out to work;
Your home is safe with a faithful wife
Implanting in her children, love
For wisdom, land, and virtuous life.
When nightfull brings us to our rest,
May smiling fortune guard our door;
But if cruel fate should harm her man,
The wife would toil on as before.
 GIRLS:
Hail! Hail! Give praise to work!
The country’s Vigor and her wealth;
For work lift up your brow serene
It is your blood, your life, your health.
If any youth protest his love
His work shall prove if he be good.
That man alone who strives and toils
Can find the way to feed his brood.
 BOYS:
Teach us then the hardest tasks
For down Thy trails we turn our feet
That when our country calls tomorrow
Thy purposes we may complete,
And may our elders say, who see us,
See! How worthy of their sire!
No incense can exalt our dead ones
Like a brave son who aspires!
• CHOOSE THE LETTER OF YOUR
ANSWER.
1.On _______________Rizal secretly left
the Philippines and had his first
voyage to the world.
a. May 3, 1882
b. May 13, 1882
c. May 23, 1882
d. May 30, 1882
2. During this trip, he
boarded__________________.
a. S.S. Victoria
b. S.S. Salvadora
c. S.S. Aaliyah
d. S.S. Sophia
3. Rizal went to Madrid and
enrolled in medicine at the
______________________.
a. Universidad Central de Madrid
b. Medical Center of Madrid
c. Madrid Central University
d. Madrid Central University of
Medicine
4. In Madrid Rizal enrolled in
medicine on ____________________.
a. November 3, 1882
b. November 13, 1882
c. November 23, 1882
d. November 30, 1882
5. While Rizal was enrolled in Madrid
for his medicine course, he also
studied painting and sculpture at
_______________________________.
a. Academia de Bellas Artes de San
Fernando
b. Academy of Arts
c. Madrid Arts Institute
d. Academy of San Carlos
6. Other than painting and sculpture,
Rizal also enrolled in drawing
classes at the ________________.
a. Academia de Bellas Artes de San
Fernando
b. Academy of Arts
c. Madrid Arts Institute
d. Academy of San Carlos
7. Rizal had a Belgian professor in
drawing, landscape, and
perspective named _________________.
a. Mr. Brown
b. Mr. Haes
c. Mr. Dan
d. Mr. Wecker
8. ________________, the Editor-in-
chief of the Diariong Tagalog,
urged Rizal to write more
articles for the said publication.
a. Marcelo Del Pilar
b. Juan Luna
c. Mariano Ponce
d. Francisco Calvo
9. The article that Rizal wrote for
Diariong Tagalog but unfortunately
was not published because of the
cessation of the publication was
entitled __________________________.
a. “Los Viajes”
b. “Revista de Madrid”
c. “Past Revisited”
d. “Travels and Review of Madrid”
10. Rizal wrote a nationalistic essay
entitled ___________________ which was
published in the Diariong Tagalog on
August 20, 1882.
a. “Los Viajes”
b. Revista de Madrid”
c. “El Amor Patricio”
d. “Un Recuerdo”