CHAPTER 4:

Scholastic Triumphs
Ateneo de Manila (1872 – 1877
 4 months after the execution of Gom-Bur-

Za and with Doña Teodora still in prison

 Jose, was sent to Manila

 He studied in the Ateneo Municipal

 Under the supervision of the Spanish Jesuits

 Bitter rival of the Dominican-owned College

of San Juan de Letran

 Formerly Escuela Pia (Charity School)

 Established by City Government in 1817 for

poor boys in manila

 1768 Jesuits expelled from Philippines

 Returned to Manila in 1859

 Later, became Ateneo de Manila

Rizal Enters the Ateneo
 June 10, 1872 - Entrance Exam

 Father Magin Ferrando, College Registrar

 Manuel Xerez Burgos, (nephew of Father Burgos)

 He use “Rizal” as his surname instead of

Mercado

 Boarded in a house outside Intramuros, on

Caraballo Street, (25 mins. away from college)

 Titay (a spinster) owned the boarding house,

and owed the Rizal’s family the amount of P300
Jesuit System of Education
 Promotes physical culture, humanities, and
scientific studies

 Vocational courses on agriculture,

commerce, mechanics and surveying

 Religiously operate the school

- mass every morning
- classes/subjects are open & close with
prayer

 Students were divided into two:

Roman Empire – Internos (boarders)

Carthaginian Empire – Externos (non-

boarders)
Each empires had its Ranks:
 Best Student – Emperor;
 2nd Best – Tribune;
 3rd Best – Decurion;
 4th Best – Centurion;
 5th Best – Standard Bearer;

 Student could challenge any officer in his

“empire” to answer questions on the day’s
lesson

 Failure to answer correctly (3) times, an

officer could lose his position
Both banners were used equally in the classroom:

1st defeat – left side of the room

2nd – Inferior position on the right side

3rd – Inclined flag was placed on the left

4th – Flag was reversed and returned to the

right

5th – Reversed flag was placed on the left

6th – Banner was changed with a figure of a

donkey

 Uniform
“hemp-fabric trousers” and “striped cotton coat”
 Coat material was called “rayadillo” – famous uniform
Rizal's First Year in Ateneo (1872 -

1873)

 June, 1872, first day of class in Ateneo

 Fr. Jose Bech, first professor of Rizal

 He was an externo and was assigned to Carthaginians

 At the end of the month he became "emperor"

 He was the brightness pupil in the whole class

 He took private lessons in Santa Isabel College and

paid three pesos for extra Spanish lessons

 He placed seconds at the end of the year although his

grades were marked "Excellent"
Summer Vacation (1873)
 March 1873, Rizal returned to Calamba for
summer vacation.

 His sister Neneng (Saturnina) brought him to

Tanawan to cheer him up

 Visited his mother in prison at Santa Cruz

without telling his father

 After vacation, he returned to Manila for his 2nd

year term in Ateneo

 He boarded inside Intramuros at No. 6

Magallanes Street

 Dona Pepay was his landlady, an old widow with

a widowed daughter and 4 sons.
Second Year in Ateneo (1873 –

1874)

 He repented having neglected his studies the

previous year because he was offended by the
teacher’s remarks.

 Rizal studied harder, and once more he became

an “emperor” after losing his class leadership

 He had 3 classmates from Binan who had also

been his classmates in the school of Maestro
Justiniano

 At the end of the school year, he received

excellent grades in all subjects and a gold medal
Teenage Interest in Reading
 During the summer vacation in Calamba (1874)

 1st favorite novel of Rizal “The Count of Monte Cristo” by

Alexander Dumas

 A voracious reader

 Cesar Cantu’s historical work entitled “Universal History”

 “Travels in the Philippines” by Dr. Feodor Jagor, a

German scientist-traveler (1859 – 1860)
3rd Year in Ateneo (1874 – 1875)
 Shortly after the opening of classes, his mother
was released from prison.

 In the previous years, Rizal did not make an

excellent showing in his studies

 He failed to win the medal in Spanish because his

spoken was not fluently sonorous

 March, 1875 Rizal returned to Calamba for

summer vacation
4th Year in Ateneo (1875 – 1876)
 June 16, 1875

 He became an interno in Ateneo

 Fr. Francisco de Paula Sanchez inspired him to

study harder and write poetry

"model of uprightness, earnestness and love

for the advancement of his pupils"

 Rizal won five medals

Last Year in Ateneo (1876 – 1877)
 June 1876, last year of Rizal in Ateneo

 He was truly "the pride of the Jesuits"

 Obtained highest grades in all subjects

Graduation with Highest Honors

 "Excellent" scholastic records from 1872 to 1877

 March 23, 1877, Commencement Day

 Received the degree of Bachelor of Arts with

highest honors
Extra-Curricular Activities in Ateneo
 An "emperor" inside the classroom and campus leader
outside

 Secretary of the Marian Congregation

 Member of Academy of Spanish Literature and the

Academy of Natural Sciences

 Studied painting under the famous Spanish painter

Agustin Saez (left photo)

 Sculpture under Romualdo de Jesus (right photo),

noted Filipino sculptor

 Engaged in gymnastics and fencing

 Father Jose Vilaclara advised him to stop communing

with the muses and pay more attention to practical
studies such as philosophy and natural science
Sculptural Works in Ateneo
 Carved an image of The Virgin Mary on a piece of
“batikuling” (Philippine hardwood)

 Father Lleonart requested him to carve an image of the

Sacred Heart of Jesus

 The old Jesuit forgot to take the image with him to

Spain

 Ateneo boarding students placed the image on the

door of the dormitory and remain there for many years
Anecdotes of Rizal
 Felix M. Ramos – one of Rizal’s contemporaries in
Ateneo

 Manuel Xerex Burgos – whose house Rizal boarded

shortly before he became an interno in Ateneo

Poems Written in Ateneo

 Mi Primera Inspiration (My First Inspiration) – the
first poem Rizal probably wrote during his days in Ateneo.
In 1875, inspired by Father Sanchez, he wrote more
poems such as:

 Filicitacion (Felicitation)

 El Embarque: Himno a la Flota de Magallanes

(The Departure Hymn to Magellan’s fleet)

 Y Es Espanol: Elcano, the first to

circumnavigate the world)

 El Combate: Urbiztondo Terror de Jolo (The

Battle: Urbiztondo, Terror of Jolo)
In 1876, Rizal wrote poems on various topics:

 Un Recuerdo a Mi Pueblu (In Memory of My Town)

 Alianza Intima Entre la Region Y La Buena Educacion

(Intimate Alliance Between Religion and Good
Education)

 Por la Educacion Recibe Lustre La Patria (Through

Education the Country Receive Light)

 E Cultivero Y El Triunfo (The Captivity and the Triumph:

Battle of Lucena and the Imprisonment of Boabdil)

 La Entrada Triuntal de Los Reyes Catolices en Granada

(The Triumphal Entry of The Catholic Monarches into
Granada)
A year later, in 1877 he wrote more poems:

 El Heroismo de Colon (The heroism of

Colombus)

 Colon y Juan II (Colombus and John II )

 Gran Consuelo en la Mayor Desdicha (Great

Solace in Great Misfortune)

 Un Diarogo Alusivo a la Despedida de los

Colegiales (A Farewell Dialogue of the
Students)
“My FirstInspiration”
Why falls so rich a spray
of fragrance from the bowers
of the balmy flowers
upon this festive day?
Why from woods and vales
do we hear sweet measures ringing
that seem to be the singing
of a choir of nightingales?
Why in the grass below
do birds start at the wind's noises,
unleashing their honeyed voices
as they hop from bough to bough?
Why should the spring that glows
its crystalline murmur be tuning
to the zephyr's mellow crooning
as among the flowers it flows?
Why seems to me more
endearing,
more fair than on other days,
the dawn's enchanting face
among red clouds appearing?
The reason, dear mother, is
they feast your day of bloom:
the rose with its perfume,
the bird with its harmonies.
And the spring that rings with
laughter
upon this joyful day
with its murmur seems to say:
"Live happily ever after!"
And from that spring in the
grove
now turn to hear the first note
that from my lute I emote
to the impulse of my love.
Dramatic Work in Ateneo
 Father Sanchez, his favorite teacher ask him to
write a drama based on the prose story of St.
Eustace the Martyr

 Summer 1876 in Calamba, he wrote the religious

drama in poetic verses

 June 2 1876, finished the manuscript

 He submitted the finished manuscript entitled

“San Eustacio, Martir” (St. Eustace, the Martyr) to
Father Sanchez in his last academic year in Ateneo
First Romance of Rizal

 16 years old, experienced his first romance

 Segunda Katigbak, a pretty 14 years old Batanguena

from Lipa

 Sister of his friend Mariano Katigbak

 His sister Olimpia was a close friend of Segunda in La

Concordia College
First Romance of Rizal
 Segunda was already engaged to Manuel Luz

 His first romance was ruined by his own shyness and

reserve

 Segunda returned to Lipa and later married Manuel Luz

 Rizal remained in Calamba, a frustrated lover, cherishing

nostalgic memories of lost love
CHAPTER 4:
Scholastic Triumphs
Ateneo de Manila (1872 –

End of presen