1. The Talents and Skills of
JOSÉ P. RIZAL

2. “His precocity since early boyhood turned into
versatility in later years. Being curious and
inquisitive, he developed a rare facility of mastering
varied talents, skills, subjects and occupations.”
Prof. Ferdinand
Blumentritt
“Versatile genius.”
Dr. Camilo Osias

3. Rizal was a po lym ath, with the
ability to master various skills
and subject.

4. Rizal’s Talents and Skills

5. ACTOR
He acted as a character in one of Juan Luna’s paintings and acted
in school dramas.

6. ANTHROPOLOGIST
He made researches on the physical and social make up of man.
ARCHEOLOGIST
Rizal studied monuments and antique currency everywhere he
went. He drew most of the monuments he saw.

7. BOOK LOVER
He had a big library and brought many
books abroad. A favorite pastime in Madrid.
He stayed at home and read until midnight

8. This the Dao tree where Dr.
Jose Rizal himself planted
and nurtured.
BOTANIST
Rizal maintained a garden in Dapitan
where he planted and experimented on
plants of all kinds.

9. BUSINESSMAN
He had a partner in Dapitan in the Abaca business there (1892-1896). One of his
profitable business venture was the hemp industry. Rizal engaged in business in
partnership with Ramon Carreon on May 14, 1893, a Dapitan Merchant which
has a profitable business ventures in fishing, copra, and hemp industries. He
invited his relative Saturnina and Hidalgo to come to Mindanao for some
business opportunities.

10. CHESS PLAYER
He played chess and bear several Germans and European friends and
acquaintances.

12. COMMENTATOR
Rizal always expresses and publishes his personal opinion.
EDUCATOR
Rizal taught in his special school in Dapitan.

13. His exile in Dapitan gave him the opportunity to put into
practice his educational ideas. In 1893, he established a
school which existed until the end of his exile in July 1896. It
began with three pupils and in the course of time the
enrollment increased to 16 and later 21. In his letter to
Blumentritt on March 13, Rizal said that he had 16 pupils in
his school and these pupils did not pay any tuition.

15. ESSAYIST
- Reminiscence of a Student in Manila (his first essay)
- The Philippines a Century Hence (prophesied the downfall of Spain in
Asia)
ETHNOLOGIST
- In his travels, Rizal was able to compare different races and he noted the
differences.

16. He became a member of Berlin Ethnological and
Anthropological Society while under the patronage of
the famous pathologist Rudolf Virchow.

17. FARMER
His total land holdings reached 70 hectares containing 6,000 hemp
plants, 1,000 coconut trees, and numerous fruit trees, sugarcane, corn,
coffee and cacao.
He devoted his time to agriculture and was able to bought about 16
hectares of land in Talisay. There he was able to plant cacao, fruit trees,
sugarcane, corn and coconuts.

18. FENCER
He fenced with Europeans and Juan Luna and other
friends in Europe.
Fencing – a sport practiced at that time only by
the Ilustrados Inteligencia

19. GRAMMARIAN
- “Estudios Sobre la Tagala”
(a birthday gift for his former instructor, Father Sanchez who visited Rizal in
Dapitan)
HISTORIAN
His annotation of Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas entitled him as one
HORTICULTURIST
He experimented on and cultivated plants in Dapitan.

20. ICHTHYOLOGIST
He collected 38 new varieties of fish in Dapitan.
JOURNALIST
He authored several published articles in Spanish and English.
JUDOKA
Rizal was the first Filipino and Malay to have practiced and in fact,
taught martial arts sport. Jiguro Kano taught him the “Way of Ju”
which means the truth of the universe.

21. INVENTOR
- He invented a cigarette lighter, which he called sulpakan, and
sent it to Blumentritt in 1887 as a gift.
- While in Dapitan, Rizal also invented a wooden machine for
making bricks which turned out about 6,000 bricks daily.

23. MUSICIAN
He played the flute and composed pieces of music and cultivated music
appreciation.

24. NOVELIST
- Noli Me Tangere
- El Filibusterismo
OPHTHALMOLOGIST
- He graduated in an ophthalmologic college in Spain.
-His mother who lost her eyesight in 1887, encouraged him
to take advanced training in ophthalmology.
-Rizal is famous for this profession -a practicing
ophthalmologist and that he was able to cure his own
mother’s cataract. Rizal was known to have trained under
prominent European ophthalmologists- Otto Becker and
Louis de Wecker. He did practice the professional backed
in his hometown in Calamba Laguna, while he was in Hong
Kong and while in exile at Dapitan.

25. PAINTER
Title: Saturnina Rizal
Material: Oil
Remarks: Now in Rizal Shrine in Fort Santiago
Title: Dapitan church curtains
Material: Oil
Remarks: Made in Dapitan, 1894

26. PHILOSOPHER
Rizal not only loved wisdom but also regulated his life and enjoyed calmness
of the life at all time.
PHYSICIAN
He treated several patients afflicted not only with eye diseases.

27. POET
Rizal wrote over 35 poems including his famous Mi Ultimo Adios,
To The Philippines, Our Mother Tongue, Memories of My town,
Hymn to Labor, Kundiman, A Poem That Has No Title, Song of
Maria Clara, To the Philippines Youth, To Josephine, Education
Gives Luster to the Motherland, To the Virgin Mary, Sa Aking
mga Kabata and others.

28. POLITICIAN
Although Rizal did not engage in politics, he
exposed the evils of the political activities of the
Spaniards in the Philippines through his
writing.
REVOLUTIONIST
Rizal encouraged reforms; discouraged old,
impractical usage, and desired new and useful
laws to benefit his countrymen. He desired
changes for the better.

29. RHETORICIAN
Rizal has always practiced the art of persuasive and impressive speaking and
writing.
SCIENTIST
Rizal’s practice of many sciences here and abroad made him noted scientist.
Rizal does loved science and discovery. He was able to explore the rich virgin
field of Mindanao and was able to collect great specimens of lizards, insects,
bats, snakes etc. which he was able to send in a museum in Europe.

30. SCULPTOR
His works of his father and of Father Guerrico, S. J. typified his sculptural
ability.

31. SHARP SHOOTER
SOCIOLOGIST
In Rizal’s study of Philippines social problems, he always encouraged and
introduced solutions.

32. TRANSLATOR
- Christmas message (Hebrew to Spanish)
- William Tell and Andersen Fairy Tales (German to Tagalog)
- The Rights of Man (French to Tagalog)
- Zend-Avesta (Arabic to Spanish)
TRAVELER
He traveled around the world three times.

33. TUBERCULOSIS EXPERT
For having cured himself of this disease, he became and was recognized as an
expert.
UNIVERSALIST
Rizal was the product of the very first synthesis between the
civilizations of the East and the West. In his person embodied the ideals of
the both.

34. ZOOLOGIST
- He was fond of pets. He researched later on their physiology, classification
and habits.
- A regular contributor of specimens of reptiles, mammals, birds, fish,
insects, crustaceans and other invertebrates to the Dresden museum
- When he was an exile in Dapitan, he collected different kinds of species of
animals. Among there were the Draco Rizali (Wandolleck), a specie of flying
dragon; Rachophorous Rizali (Boetger), a hithertho unknown specie of toad;
and Apogonia Rizali (Heller), a small beetle, which were later named after
him.