Rizal’s mother, 9 sisters, and 9 women

It is the women, much more than the men, who shaped the character of our national hero.

Our national hero whose 158th birth anniversary we celebrated yesterday had no less than nine sisters who doted on him and did their best to protect him from the nine women that Dr. Jose P Rizal once loved and loved passionately indeed. How did his mother and those 18 females shape the character and persona of our national hero? We shall attempt to decipher and explain here. Perhaps, the greatest influence on Rizal was his mom, Dona Teodora Alonso y Quintos (1827-1913) who was a pious, hard-working and business-minded lady of culture and well-educated in Colegio de Santa Rosa. She was the mentor, counselor, critic and spiritual adviser to the young Jose.

Her eldest sister, Saturnina (1850-1913) who married Timoteo Hidalgo of Batangas, was the disciplinarian. The next sister was Narcisa (1852-1939) married Antonio Lopez of Morong, she was strict as to the women Jose had eyes on. Olympia (1855-1887) who married Silvestre Ubaldo and who died at 32. Her death saddened Jose because Olympia was very close to him. Lucia (1857-1919) who was married to Mariano Herbosa was the sister who received the lamp where the immortal poem Mi Ultimo Adios was hidden. Maria (1859-19450) who married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan, was the child who immediately preceded Jose in the order of birth. She is the ascendant of Gemma Cruz Araneta who was our first Miss International.

The seventh sister of Rizal was Concepcion (1862-1865), the one who was born a year after Jose, died at the age of three. Josefa (1868-1951) died a spinster and was the last to die among all the Rizals. She, like Saturnina and Narcisa were very protective of Jose against the many girls who were the objects of Rizal's affections. Soledad,(1870-1929) the youngest married Pantaleon Quintero. Women were attracted to Rizal because of his intelligence, wit, charm and charisma. The first and puppy love of the young Jose was a petite Segunda Katigbak who was already betrothed to Manuel Luz. Then Rizal fell in love with Leonor Valenzuela, a tall girl from Pagsanjan. Their farewells on the eve of Rizal's departure to Spain was described in the Noli and Fili.

The third and perhaps the most beloved was Leonor Rivera whom Rizal loved and was his sweetheart for 11 years. She was the Maria Clara in Noli Me Tangere. Because of her, Rizal avoided and left other girls. Her mom disliked Rizal because of his anti-Spanish advocacy. Thus, the mom hid all the letters from Rizal. Thinking that she was already forgotten, Leonor grudgingly agreed to marry an Englishman, Henry Kipping, who was favored by her mom. The next was Consuelo Ortiga y Rey, a Spanish woman who loved him passionately. But because Rizal loved Leonor Rivera, he left Consuelo. Then came O Sie San, a highly intelligent, beauteous and talented daughter of a Japanese samurai who taught Rizal the Japanese language and painting a la Japan style. Rizal could have married her but his love for Leonor Rivera stopped him.

The sixth woman was Gertrude Beckett who was the daughter of Rizal's landlady in London. The seventh was Nelly Boustead in France, then came Susan Jacoby in Brussels, and lastly, Josephine Bracken who was an Irish woman with happy disposition. She went to Dapitan bringing his sick uncle from Hong Kong to be treated by Rizal. They had a common law marriage and had a child who died stillbirth.

Rizal's life was immensely shaped by women who influenced him so much.