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José Rizal, in full José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, (born June 19, 1861, Calamba, Philippines—died December 30, 1896, Manila), patriot, physician, and man of letters who was an inspiration to the Philippine nationalist movement.

The son of a prosperous landowner, Rizal was educated in Manila and at the University of Madrid. A brilliant medical student, he soon committed himself to the reform of Spanish rule in his home country, though he never advocated Philippine independence. Most of his writing was done in Europe, where he resided between 1882 and 1892

In 1887 Rizal published his first novel, Noli me tangere (The Social Cancer), a passionate exposure of the evils of Spanish rule in the Philippines. A sequel, El filibusterismo (1891; The Reign of Greed), established his reputation as the leading spokesman of the Philippine reform movement. He published an annotated edition (1890; reprinted 1958) of Antonio Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, hoping to show that the native people of the Philippines had a long history before the coming of the Spaniards. He became the leader of the Propaganda Movement, contributing numerous articles to its newspaper, La Solidaridad, published in Barcelona. Rizal’s political program included integration of the Philippines as a province of Spain, representation in the Cortes (the Spanish parliament), the replacement of Spanish friars by Filipino priests, freedom of assembly and expression, and equality of Filipinos and Spaniards before the law.

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Rizal returned to the Philippines in 1892. He founded a nonviolent-reform society, the Liga Filipina, in Manila, and was deported to Dapitan in northwest Mindanao. He remained in exile for the next four years. In 1896 the Katipunan, a Filipino nationalist secret society, revolted against Spain. Although he had no connections with that organization and he had had no part in the insurrection, Rizal was arrested and tried for sedition by the military. Found guilty, he was publicly executed by a firing squad in Manila. His martyrdom convinced Filipinos that there was no alternative to independence from Spain. On the eve of his execution, while confined in Fort Santiago, Rizal wrote “Último adiós” (“Last Farewell”), a masterpiece of 19th-century Spanish verse.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray.

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The Social Cancer

work by Rizal

Alternate titles: “Noli me tangere”

By Patricia Bauer • Edit History

The Social Cancer, original title Noli me tangere, novel by Filipino political activist and author José Rizal, published in 1887. The book, written in Spanish, is a sweeping and passionate unmasking of the brutality and corruption of Spanish rule in the Philippines (1565–1898).

The story begins at a party to welcome Crisóstomo Ibarra back to the Philippines after seven years of studying in Europe. His father, Don Rafael, passed away shortly before his return, and Crisóstomo soon learns that he died in prison after accidentally killing a tax collector and being falsely accused of other crimes by Father Dámaso, the longtime curate of the church in Crisóstomo’s hometown of San Diego. Crisóstomo returns to San Diego, and his fiancée, María Clara, joins him there. After the schoolmaster tells him that Father Dámaso and the new curate, Father Salví, interfere with his teaching, Crisóstomo decides to build a new modern school in San Diego.

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On a picnic with María Clara, Crisóstomo goes on a fishing boat and helps the pilot, Elías, kill a crocodile. Elías later warns Crisóstomo that there is a plot to murder him at the ceremony for the laying of the school’s cornerstone, and indeed, as Crisóstomo is placing mortar for the cornerstone, the derrick holding the stone collapses. Although Crisóstomo escapes injury, the derrick operator is killed. At a dinner later, Father Dámaso insults the new school, Filipinos in general, Crisóstomo, and Don Rafael. An enraged Crisóstomo attacks him, but María Clara stops him from killing the priest. Later her father breaks off her engagement to Crisóstomo and arranges for her betrothal to a young Spanish man, Linares.

Father Salví plots with Lucas, the brother of the deceased derrick operator, to organize a strike on the barracks of the Civil Guard and to convince the attackers that Crisóstomo is their ringleader. Father Salví then warns the head of the Civil Guard of the impending assault. When the attack fails, the rebels say that Crisóstomo was their leader, and he is arrested. Elías helps Crisóstomo escape from prison, and they flee by boat on the Pasig River with members of the Civil Guard in pursuit. Elías dives into the river to distract the pursuers and is mortally wounded. It is reported that Crisóstomo was killed, and a distraught María Clara insists on entering a convent.

In the novel’s dedication, Rizal explains that there was once a type of cancer so terrible that the sufferer could not bear to be touched, and the disease He founded a nonviolent-reform society, the Liga Filipina, in Manila, and was deported to Dapitan in northwest Mindanao. He remained in exile for the next four years. In 1896 the Katipunan, a Filipino nationalist secret society, revolted against Spain. Although he had no connections with that organization and he had had no part in the insurrection, Rizal was arrested and tried for sedition by the military. Found guilty, he was publicly executed by a firing squad in Manila. His martyrdom convinced Filipinos that there was no alternative to independence from Spain. On the eve of his execution, while confined in Fort Santiago, Rizal wrote “Último adiós” (“Last Farewell”), a masterpiece of 19th-century Spanish verse