Trivia

The national hero of the Philippines.

Major cities in the Philippinse have a street named after him.

A province in the Philippines is named after him.

The Filipino peso has his face on it.

A park in Seattle, WA, is named after him. Located at 1008 12th Avenue South, Jose Rizal Park lies at the foot of the Pacific Medical Center, corner of 12th Avenue S. and S Judkins St in the Beacon Hill section of Seattle. The park has a history of being associated with the Filipino community, the largest group of Asian-Americans in the Seattle area, with an estimated population (as of the 2000 census) of 30,000.

The first to have won a back-to-back Best Story in FAMAS for Noli me tángere (1961) and El filibusterismo (1962).

The anniversary of his death is commemorated in the Philippines as a national holiday called Rizal Day. His execution by the Spanish colonial authorities made him a martyr of the Filipino Revolution.

A Filipino polymath, nationalist and the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era and its eventual independence from Spain.

The seventh of 11 children born to a middle-class family.

One of the Filipino personalities to have been portrayed by several actors. He was first played by Eddie Del Mar in Buhay at pag-ibig ni Dr. Jose Rizal (1956). Other actors who played him are Albert Martinez in Rizal sa Dapitan (1997), Cesar Montano in José Rizal (1998), Gardo Versoza in Sisa (1999) and Joel Torre in Bayaning 3rd World (2000).

He was a skilled linguist; in his many travels in Europe and Asia, he was able to pick up the language of whatever country he visited and stayed for a protracted amounts of time. He was also a talented artist, and there are sketches of his work which are still intact today.

He was married to an Irishwoman, Josephine Bracken, toward the end of his life. They had a son, but he died shortly after birth.

Before he was executed on 30 December, 1894, he requested to be shot facing the firing squad, and this was denied him, so they shot him in the back. Despite this, after the squad opened fire, Rizal summoned his strength and turned to face the soldiers, and then fell flat on his back with his eyes looking at the sky.