Rizal as a Genius

Rizal was an expert of at least 22 fields of disciplines.

1.    As physician. It was always the dream of Rizal to study Ophthalmology to help his mother who was in the stage of advance blindness. This dream was fulfilled in 1884 at the age of 23 at the Universidad Central de Madrid. The university gave him the degree of Licentiate in Medicine. He went back to Calamba and successfully cured many patients there. Being a physician was one of the benefits that the people of Dapitan had enjoyed during the exile of Rizal in that place of Zamboanga del Norte. His name as a physician reached as far as Ireland. A friend George Tauffer came to Dapitan with his daughter Josephine. And Josephine Bracken became the wife of Rizal.

2.    As poet. At early age of eight, Rizal demonstrated his poetic gift when he wrote “Sa Aking Mga Kababata.” Some of his known poems are as follows:

a.    Recuerdo A mi Pueblo (In memory of my town)

b.    My First Inspiration

c.    Through Education Our Motherland Receives Light

d.    To the Child Jesus

e.    To the Virgin Mary

f.     To the Filipino Youth

g.    The Song of Maria Clara

h.    Hymn to Labor

i.      To My Muse

j.      Hymn to Talisay

k.    Josephine, Josephine

l.      Kundiman

m.  Mi Ultimo Adios

3.    As novelist. Rizal had published two novels; the Noli Me Tangere and El Flilibusterismo. There were stil unfinished ones; Makamisa, Dapitan and many others. The Noli and El Fili pictured the deplorable conditions of the Filipino people under the abusive Spaniards. They unveiled the same evil.

4.    As essayist. Aside from novels and poetry, Rizal was also an essayist. He produced several essays some of which are as follows:

a.    Amor Patrio (Love of Country)

b.    On Travel

c.    The Indolence of the Filipinos

d.    Letter to the Young Women of Malolos

5.    As a dramatist. The Council of the Gods of Rizal won first prize in the literary contest 1880 at the Lyceum De Manila. It was considered superior of all the manuscript submitted. The judges had no choice but to proclaim the winner in spite of the fact that it was submitted by an Indio. Other dramas of Rizal include the following:

a.    Comedia

b.    Beside the River

 

6.    As historian. The greatest achievement of Rizal as historian was his annotation (comment) of Morga’s Successos Las Islas Filipinas, published in Mexico in 1609. Rizal praised Morga for being unbiased. And Morga was a reliable historian.

7.    As a painter. At an early age, Rizal had already shown his artistic inclination. His first success in painting was when he was still a boy in Calamba. It was said that a religious banner was damaged and new one should replace it. Knowing that the boy Rizal was good in painting, the people came to him and requested him to paint a religious banner. At once, Rizal consented, and a new one was produced. One of his known paintings was of Saturnina, his eldest sister. He was good at sketching. His sketches include the Monkey and the Turtle. He also learned the Japanes art of painting called Sumi-e.  

8.    As a sculptor. At first, Rizal learned sculpture by himself when he was still a boy. He loved to shape figures using clay or wax. This boyhood hobby on sculpture was further developed while he was in Ateneo. Jesuit professors encouraged him to develop his sculpture talent. Also, the Economic Society of friends of the country the University of Sto. Tomas awarded him with a diploma and a silver medal for his wax model. Some of his sculptural works were the following:

a.    Woodcarving of his father

b.    Woodcarving of his Josephine

c.    A clay figured called “The Mother’s Revenge”

9.    As an architect. Rizal had proposed to put up a Filipino college in Hong Kong. As part of his plan he himself designed the building. His house in Dapitan was design by himself. Looking closely at his house in Dapitan, one finds an complicated knotting of rattan without the use of nails.

10.  As a musician. Rizal was not only gifted with a good voice, but as a composer of music. He also produced several musical compositions and one of those was entitled “Alin Mang Lahi” (Any Race), a patriotic song.

11.  As a linguist. His travels and contact with different people provided Rizal the opportunity to learn some languages and dialects. At the age of 35 he could speak 22 languages. In these 22 languages, he could communicate well both in writing and speaking.

12.  As a bibliophile. Bibliophile is a lover or collector of books; Rizal collected more than 2,000 books. These books were categorized to fictions, geography, history, arts and sciences. At young age, he was already reading the classic, philosophy and fiction.

13.  As a translator. Knowledge of several languages is the basic craft to be a good translator. Rizal could speak 22 languages, thus qualified as a translator. He translated William Anderson’s fairy tales, Ethnology of the Islands of Mindanao from German to Spanish and other known writings.

14.  As an educator. The value of education was planted in the mind of Rizal by his mother. He grew up an educated man and became an educator. First, he had an aborted plan to put up a school in Hong Kong. But finally in Dapitan, he had a school, a small one but enough to accommodate a number of students.

15.  As an economist. Rizal was very well aware of the economic set up of the country during his time. He was desolate about business in the country controlled by the foreigners, particularly the Chinese. In an attempt to counter the Chinese businesses in Dapitan, he encouraged the people to form a cooperative. He himself engaged in business. More importantly, he encouraged everyone not to patronize the Chinese stores.

16.  As a surveyor. He finished his surveying course at the Ateneo de Manila while he was at University of Sto. Tomas, although he was not immediately granted the title because of his young age. At 20, he began to practice surveying.

17.  As an engineer. Rizal did not formally study engineering. His reading of engineering books helped him a lot. In Dapitan, he constructed a water system that supplied the whole town. He built a large dam, good enough to collect water for the town populace. Also in Dapitan, he remodeled the town plaza. Using his own money, he provided the town with a lightning system consisted of coconut oil lamp.

18.  As a naturalist. A naturalist is one who collects and studies specimens like plants and animals. While in Dapitan, Rizal gathered several species, which he sent to Europe. In recognition of his works, European scientist named some species in his name. They were Draco Rizali, a flying dragon or dragonfly; a pogenia Rizali, a small turtle and Phacopahous Rizali, a frog.

19.  As an archaeologist. Archaeologist is one who studies ancient people’s civilization, through relics like temples, tools, weapons, jars and others. While in Dapitan, Rizal excavated the Lumanao Hill where he discovered several relics that belonged to the Chinese merchant of the Sung Dynasty. He concluded that Lumanao Hill was a burial place of the Chinese.

20.  As a philologist. A linguist is a person who is skilled in languages. A philologist is one who studies the origin and development of a language. Rizal made his own study and associated himself with known European philologists. He made a study of the Tagalog Orthography, or spelling. He found out that Tagalog language had been hispanized by the Spaniards. Rizal wanted to eliminate the hispanized spelling by using K and W instead of c and u.

21.  As an inventor. Rizal invented a cigarette lighter and while in Dapitan, he invented a wooden machine for making bricks. Using this machine he was able to manufacture 6000 bricks daily.

22.  As a sportsman. Rizal was expert in swimming, fencing, wrestling and rowing. He also loved the play yo-yo. Fashioned from Europe he opened a gymnasium in Calamba. He introduced European sports namely, boxing, fencing, pistol shooting, wrestling and judo. His intention for establishing gymnasium was to discourage the people from indulging in gambling. Part of the curriculum of the aborted plan of a Filipino college in Hong Kong was gymnastics. In Dapitan, he did not only teach academic subjects. He included boating, fencing, shooting, swimming and wrestling.

23.  As a magician. Like all the other children, Rizal was interested in magic. When he was still a boy in Calamba, he amused his sisters and friends with his skillful tricks. In Europe, he continued his interest in magic. He had books about famous magician.

24.  As a prophet. The release of his mother from jail was prophesied by Rizal. He was still 13 years old at the time. The prophecy came true and mother was released. He had other predictions which came to reality. Some were that Filipinos would stage a revolution and Manila would become a busy city.

ACTIVITY GAME: Charade with a TWIST