Mass Celebration for the 150th Birth Anniversary of Dr. Jose P. Rizal
By The Philippine Embassy, The Hague
Fri 27th May 2011
in cooperation with the Filipino Catholic Community in The Hague,
joins the Nation in celebration of the
150th Birth Anniversary of Dr. Jose P. Rizal
Mass celebration on Saturday, 18 June 2011, 18.30
at Heilige Antonius Abt Kerk
Scheveningseweg 233
2584 AA The Hague
Dr. Jose P. Rizal, the National Hero of the Philippines, was born on June 19, 1861 in Calamba, Laguna. He was born into a well-to-do family. His parents sent him to Catholic schools for his education. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Ateneo Municipal de Manila of the Jesuit order. He studied medicine at the University of Santo Tomas of the Dominican order, but later on decided to pursue his medical studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid because of discrimination against Filipino students by the Dominican friars.
He obtained his degree of Licentiate in Medicine on June 21, 1884 at the age of 23. While doing his studies in Spain, he travelled extensively in Europe, America, and Asia where he was able to master 22 languages. He was a renaissance genius for being an architect, artist, businessman, cartoonist, educator, economist, ethnologist, scientific farmer, historian, inventor, journalist, linguist, musician, mythologist, nationalist, naturalist, novelist, ophthalmic surgeon, poet, propagandist, psychologist, scientist, sculptor, sociologist, and theologian.
His two novels, Noli Me Tangere (Touch me not) and El Filibusterismo (The Filibuster) are his two iconic works which served as catalysts in starting the Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonial rule. However, because of the fatal blow that his revolutionary work inflicted on the Spanish colonizers, Dr. Rizal was publicly executed on December 30, 1896 by firing squad.
His execution was not in vain as it strengthened the Filipino revolutionary spirit against Spain. Two (2) years after his death, on June 12, 1898, Philippine Independence was declared in Kawit, Cavite by the first president of the republic, Emilio Aguinaldo.
A National Monument in honor of Dr. Rizal stands in Luneta, Manila as a testament to the heroic martyrdom of a man who has become the cornerstone of the Filipino nation.
Philippine Embassy, The Hague
Source: Jose Rizal: A Biographical Sketch by Teofilo H. Montemayor