Rizal as writer on 3-month exhibit in National Library Madrid

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An exhibit of the literary output of Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, including his two outstanding world-class novels “Noli me Tangere” and “El Filbusterismo,” was unveiled last month at the National Library building in Madrid, Spain.

The exhibit, Entre España y Filipinas: José Rizal, Escritor (Between Spain and the Philippines: Jose Rizal, Writer), was organized within the framework of the 150th birth anniversary of the hero, who was born on June 19, 1861 in the town of Calamba, Laguna, south of Manila. The works will be viewed until February 12, 2012, according to an announcement from the embassy of Spain in Manila.

The Directorate of Cultural and Scientific Relations of Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and the National Library of Spain spearheaded the event.

Organizers said the exhibit “aims to deepen in his work as a writer of Spanish letters, considering him as a Galdós in the tropics and contextualizing him in the intellectual environment of the enlightened Philippines of the nineteenth century.”

The exhibition shows various personal items which aim to show Spanish visitors the world and the society that surrounded Jose Rizal and inspired his works. The Philippines was a Spanish colony in those times.

Some items in the exhibit were loaned from the Philippines through efforts of the embassy of Spain here. These include two original letters addressed to Rizal’s best friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt, and his family (written between 1886 and 1887), lent by the National Library of the Philippines. Organizers said these letters have never been shown outside the Philippines.

Also displayed are two epaulettes worn by General Emilio Aguinaldo provided by the Philippine National Historical Commission and an edition of “La Solidaridad” of May 15, 1989 which published Rizal’s article “La verdad para todos” (The truth for all) provided by the historian and acknowledged Rizal expert, Dr. Ambeth R. Ocampo.

The embassy describes Rizal as “one of the great heroes of the Philippines and one of the most charismatic figures in its history; social and political leader, he was the promoter of the modernization of his country and shaped the Filipino identity and nationhood.”

With a degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Philosophy and Letters, “he practised ophthalmology. He was also a history and grammar researcher. A tireless traveller and a polyglot, he spoke more than 10 languages and was interested in their origin and development,” the embassy continued.

Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo are required reading in Philippine schools. “Excellent poet, author of numerous essays and newspaper articles, he was the editor of several newspapers and travel books as well as correspondent of a large collection of letters. However, his political and social importance has overshadowed the relevance of his literary work.”

Rizal’s famous last poem, “Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell) was written while in exile in the Mindanao city of Dapitan (now part of Zamboanga del Norte). The “Noli” has more than 20 international translations.

He was shot to death by a mix firing squad of Spanish and Filipinos, accused of insurrection, on December 30, 1896.