His early exposure to several fields of knowledge by his family in Calamba, the personal guidance of his Jesuit Mentors, regular correspondence with his peers in Europe, and exposure to the latest technological breakthroughs in Europe and his travels around the globe enabled him to master several fields of knowledge from the humanities, the arts, and the sciences. Our National Hero is unique to the world in the sense that while Spain has El Cid, US has Washington and China has Mao Zedong and other countries which are all revolutionary leaders or warriors, our National hero is a versatile genius and an intellectual.
Rizal is a:
Poet - His first mentor when it comes to poetry was her mother herself, also an excellent poet. His talent for the Muses was further honed in the Ateneo Municipal.
Sculptor - He first practiced sculpture in the Ateneo. He was taught by Father Sanchez, delighted by Rizal’s prowess, he asked him to mold the Sacred Heart of Jesus on a Wood. Before his death, the same sculpture will find itself on the cell of Rizal in the Fort Santiago.
Novelist - Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo are the finest examples of his literary talent when it comes to prose. Translated to many language, the novels remain to be the jewels of Philippine Literature.
Linguist - He is proficient in 22 languages. Need to say more? This talent of him enabled him to establish numerous romantic relations with different women in different countries.
Engineer - He obtained training to be a surveyor in Ateneo Municipal. During his exile in Dapitan, he established a waterworks system that supplied water in Dapitan. He also built the lights in the streets of Dapitan, using oil. Way before electricity came.
Doctor - He is a practicing ophthalmologist, and even cured his mother’s cataract. He had patients from different parts of the country and even Hong Kong visiting Dapitan to have their eyes cured by Rizal.
Teacher - While on banishment in Dapitan, he settled a school in his hut where he taught boys writing, arithmetic and reading.
Farmer - Exposed to their farm in calamba, he used what he knew to develop his estate in Dapitan.
Businessman - He engaged in trading abaca while in Dapitan.
Athlete - He learned athletics from his Uncle Manuel. Also played fencing with Juan Luna in Spain. He is also a marksman.
Scientist - Among one of his great contributions to science is the discovery of a lizard and bat.
Journalist - One of his propaganda participation is reflected in his articles in La Solidaridad as Dimasalang or Laong Laan. At the time he ceased writing for the newspaper, readership declined.
There are more, but I can’t even enumerate it all due to the healthy number of it. Rizal’s era was the era when the Filipinos, said to be inferior from the Spanish from the Iberian Peninsula, is busy proving to the Spaniards that the Filipino could equal or even best them. There was Luna in Painting, Tampingco in Sculpture, Roxas in Architecture. Then Rizal came, his versatile genius proved beyond reasonable doubt, that the Filipino could par even what was deem as racially superior Caucasians. Even his friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt said “Rizal was the greatest product of the Philippines and his coming to the world was like the appearance of a rare comet, whose rare brilliance appears only every other century.”
(via theurbanhistorian)
