Jose Rizal honored with exhibit in US Library of Congress

As the Philippines commemorates the 115th death anniversary of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal on December 30, Filipinos in other parts of the world are also paying tribute to him. In the Asian Reading Room of the United States Library of Congress, an actual original manuscript of Rizal's "Noli Me Tangere" is now on display until January 5.   The rare display, which opened on December 27, is also part of the library's commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Rizal this year, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.   "Also part of the display are transcripts of the Rizal trial, books on Fort Santiago where Rizal was incarcerated and newspaper accounts, mostly from Spain, of Rizal's execution in Manila on 30 December 1896," the DFA said.   Rizal's "Noli Me Tangere," originally written in Spanish, depicts the injustices experienced by Filipinos during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines.   The novel was published in 1887, and was followed by "El Filibusterismo" in 1891.   "These novels were smuggled to the Philippines and were known to incite the Philippine revolution against Spain. They were translated in several languages," the DFA said. Jose Rizal José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda was a Filipino polymath and patriot who advocated for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era.
Rizal was born to a rich family in Calamba, Laguna on June 19, 1861. He was the seventh child in the family which had 11 children.

He attended various schools: 

• Ateneo Municipal de Manila (earning a Bachelor of Arts);
• University of Santo Tomas (medicine);
• Universidad Central de Madrid in Madrid, Spain (Licentiate in Medicine);
• University of Paris, and
• University of Heidelberg.

Rizal was a polyglot who was conversant in 22 languages.

He was also a poet and novelist and his two most famous works were the "Noli me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo."

On December 30, 1896, Rizal was executed by the Spanish in Bagumbayan.

The date of his death is remembered every year as "Rizal Day." - VVP, GMA News