José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda or popularly known as José Rizal (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse riˈsal]; 19 June 1861 – 30 December 1896) was a Filipino nationalist during the tail end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. An ophthalmologist by profession, Rizal became a writer and a key member of the Filipino Propaganda Movement which advocated political reforms for the colony under Spain. He was executed by the Spanish colonial government for the crime of rebellion after an anti-colonial revolution, inspired in part by his writings, broke out. Though he was not actively involved in its planning or conduct, he ultimately approved of its goals which eventually led to Philippine independence. He is widely considered one of the greatest heroes of the Philippines, and is implied by Philippine law to be one of the national heroes. He was the author of the novels Noli Me Tángere, and El Filibusterismo, and a number of poems and essays.

Early life

José Rizal was born in 1861 to Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso in the town of Calamba in Laguna province. He had nine sisters and one brother. His parents were leaseholders of a hacienda and an accompanying rice farm by the Dominicans. Both their families had adopted the additional surnames of Rizal and Realonda in 1849, after Governor General Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa decreed the adoption of Spanish surnames among the Filipinos for census purposes (though they already had Spanish names). José traced his patrilineal lineage back to Fujian province in China through Lam Co, a Chinese immigrant who came to the Philippines in the late 17th century and was later baptized as a Christian and renamed Domingo.

José Rizal is a 1998 Filipino biographical film of the Filipino national hero José Rizal directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya and starring Cesar Montano as José Rizal.

At the time of its release, it was the most expensive film in the history of Filipino cinema with a budget of over ₱ 80 million. The film was an official entry to the 1998 Metro Manila Film Festival. Upon release, the film met universal critical acclaim.

Plot

José Rizal was imprisoned in Fort Santiago under the abusive Spanish colonization. José Rizal was approached by a young uneducated Austronesian peoples asking the importance of education during his life. Meanwhile, in Balintawak, Andrés Bonifacio and his fellow secret organization of Katipunan commenced the uprising against the tyranny created by the Spaniards by tearing their cedula as a sign of Spanish slavery.

Soon, a first lieutenant of the Artillery, Luis Taviel de Andrade, visited Rizal. Taviel de Andrade did not waste time to study carefully Rizal's case. In just a short period of time, Rizal and Taviel captured each other's sympathy and eventually became friends as they had usual meetings in Rizal's cell in Fort Santiago. Taviel was even able to celebrate Christmas with Rizal in the cell where they drank pan get and sang together.

José Rizal (1861–1896) is a national hero of the Philippines.

José Rizal or Jose Rizal may also refer to: