Life
The Many Minds of José Rizal: Doctor, Novelist, Sculptor, Naturalist
Rizal was a doctor, a novelist, a sculptor, a naturalist, and a linguist fluent in over twenty languages — all before the age of 35. Here’s what that actually looked like.
Life
Rizal and Blumentritt: An Unlikely Friendship Across Continents
A Filipino student in Heidelberg wrote to an Austrian schoolteacher in his own language. They exchanged letters for ten years—until one faced a Spanish firing squad in Manila. The other never forgot him.
Legacy
Latest Articles
Works
Mi Último Adiós and My Last Farewell: Side by Side
Rizal wrote the poem on his last night and hid it in an alcohol stove. Here is the Spanish original beside the Derbyshire translation, stanza by stanza, with notes on what each one means.
Noli Me Tangere as World Literature
Written in Spanish by a Filipino in Berlin, published in 1887, banned by the government it exposed, it helped end a colonial empire. But most people outside the Philippines have never heard of it.
Noli Me Tangere vs. El Filibusterismo: What Changed Between the Two Novels
Rizal wrote two novels. The first exposed a colonial society to itself. The second asked what happens when it refuses to change. They are not a story and its sequel — they are a before and after.
The Poems of José Rizal
Rizal wrote poetry from childhood to the night before his execution. Here is a guide to all of it — organized by period, with notes on each poem and links to the full texts.
El Filibusterismo: Chapter-by-Chapter Summary
All 39 chapters of El Filibusterismo, summarized clearly and in order — from Simoun’s arrival on the Tabo to Padre Florentino throwing the treasure into the sea.
People
Rizal and Blumentritt: An Unlikely Friendship Across Continents
A Filipino student in Heidelberg wrote to an Austrian schoolteacher in his own language. They exchanged letters for ten years—until one faced a Spanish firing squad in Manila. The other never forgot him.
Rizal’s Friends and Allies: The Circle That Shaped a Hero
The friends, rivals, and allies who walked alongside Rizal — in European exile, across hundreds of letters, and through years of shared struggle — shaped his ideas and made him the man history would not forget.