Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y Alejandro (May 11, 1818 – January 5, 1898) was the father of the Philippines' national hero

Jose Rizal Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

. He was born in

Biñan Biñan (), officially the City of Biñan ( fil, Lungsod ng Biñan), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city in the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Laguna (province), Laguna, Philippines. According ...

Laguna Laguna (Italian and Spanish for lagoon) may refer to: People * Abe Laguna (born 1992), American DJ known as Ookay * Andrés Laguna (1499–1559), Spanish physician, pharmacologist, and botanist * Ana Laguna (born 1955), Spanish-Swedish ballet d ...

. He had a wife named Teodora Realonda y Quintos and had 11 children altogether.

Early life

He was one of the children of Juan Monica Mercado and Cirila Alejandro. His family had adopted the additional surnames of ''Rizal'' in 1849, after Governor General

Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa Narciso José Anastasio Clavería y Zaldúa (Catalan: ''Narcís Josep Anastasi Claveria i Zaldua''; 2 May 1795 – 20 June 1851) was a Spanish army officer who served as the Governor-General of the Philippines from July 16 1844 to December 26 1 ...

decreed the adoption of

Spanish surnames Spanish names are the traditional way of identifying, and the official way of registering, a person in Spain. They comprise a given name (simple or composite) and two surnames (the first surname of each parent). Traditionally, the first surname ...

among the

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

s for census purposes (though they already had Spanish names). Like many families in the Philippines, the Rizals were of mestizo origin. Francisco's patrilineal lineage could be traced to

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

in China through his father's ancestor Lam-Co, a

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

merchant who immigrated to the Philippines in the late 17th century. Lam-Co traveled to Manila from

Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...

, China, possibly to avoid the famine or plague in his home district, and more probably to escape the

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...

invasion during the

Transition from Ming to Qing The transition from Ming to Qing, alternatively known as Ming–Qing transition or the Manchu conquest of China, from 1618 to 1683, saw the transition between two major dynasties in Chinese history. It was a decades-long conflict between the e ...

. He decided to stay in the islands as a farmer. In 1697, to escape the bitter anti-Chinese prejudice that existed in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, he converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, changed his name to Domingo Mercado and married the daughter of Chinese friend Augustin Chin-co. Francisco Rizal was only eight years old when his father died. He attended a Latin school in Biñan, which his sons would later attend. He also attended the Colegio de San Jose in Manila, where he studied Latin and philosophy. He was described by Rafael Palma: "He was 40, of solid shoulders, strong constitution, rather tall than short, of serious and reflective mien, with prominent forehead and large dark eyes. A pure Filipino."

Personal life

Francisco married Teodora Alonso on June 28, 1848, when he was 30 years old. The couple resided in Laguna, particularly in Calamba and built a business in agriculture. Rizal-Family-Sisters-

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercado, Francisco 1818 births 1898 deaths People from Biñan José Rizal