Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (lahir di Calamba, Provinsi Laguna, Filipina, 19 Juni 1861 – meninggal di Rizal Park, Manila, Filipina, 30 Desember 1896 pada umur 35 tahun) adalah tokoh bangsa Filipina. Ia diberikan bermacam-macam gelar: "Kebanggaan Ras Melayu," "Tokoh Besar Malaya," "Tokoh Utama Filipino," "Mesias Revolusi," "Pahlawan Universal," "Mesias Penebusan." Hari peringatan kematian José Rizal adalah 30 Desember dan merupakan hari libur di Filipina. Ia adalah seorang yang berbakat. Selain dari menjadi seorang dokter, ia juga seorang arsitek, seniman, pendidik, ekonom, etnolog, ahli pertanian, sejarahwan, jurnalis, pemusik, mitologiwan, internasionalis, naturalis, dokter mata, sosiolog, pematung, penyair, penulis drama dan novelis. Ia menguasai 22 bahasa, di antaranya: Tagalog, Cebuano, Melayu, Tionghoa, Arab, Ibrani, Inggris, Jepang, Spanyol, Catalan, Italia, Portugis, Latin, Perancis, Jerman, Yunani, Rusia, Sanskerta dan dialek-dialek Filipina yang lain. Sebagai seorang patriot tertinggi bagi bangsa Filipina, hari kematiannya pada 30 Desember kini diperingati sebagai hari libur di Filipina, yang disebut hari Rizal. Sebagai seorang pembaru politik, ia setara dengan Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, dan Sun Yat Sen sebagai perintis yang mengubah cara berpikir di benua Asia, namun sebagai seorang modernis yang mendapatkan yang terbaik dari apa yang dapat diberikan oleh peradaban Eropa, ia melampaui negara maupun benua, seorang visioner yang berpandangan jauh ke depan, dengan pesan yang relevan untuk masa kini. Begitu pula dikarenakan jiwa sosialnya yang tinggi tanpa memandang ras dan bangsa, maka pemerintahan Kota Medan, Indonesia, mengabadikan nama Jose Rizal menjadi salah satu nama jalan di Kota Medan. Dalam suratnya yang terakhir, dari rangkaian surat-menyurat yang sangat tebal dan tidak ada tandingannya dalam tradisi Asia, kepada Profesor Fernando Blumentritt dari Sudeten, Jerman - Saudaraku tercinta, saat engkau menerima surat ini, aku sudah tiada. Esok pada pk. 7, aku akan ditembak; namun aku tidak bersalah atas tuduhan melakukan pemberontakan... Ia harus meyakinkan sahabatnya bahwa ia tidak pernah berubah menjadi seorang revolusioner, seperti yang pernah dipertimbangkannya, bahwa cita-cita yang diperjuangkan oleh keduanya tetap dipegangnya hingga akhir. Ia pun menyerahkan sebuah buku yang secara pribadi dijilidnya di Dapitan untuk 'sahabat terbaik dan tercintanya'. Ketika orang Austria itu menerimanya, ia menangis dan meratap.
Setelah Rizal dijatuhi hukuman mati, muncul banyak keraguan mengenai kejadian-kejadian di sekitar kematiannya. Banyak orang yang tetap percaya bahwa Rizal tidak menikahi kekasihnya tercinta Josephine Bracken sesuai tradisi Katolik Roma beberapa jam sebelum hukuman matinya, ataupun mencabut bagian-bagian tulisannya yang bernada anti Katolik, sebuah pertikaian yang tidak kunjung berkurang. Firasat Rizal sendiri adalah pembelaannya setelah kematiannya. Tersisip dalam 'Mi Ultimo Adios' sebuah kunci yang mungkin menyingkapkan isi hatinya, "Aku pergi ke tempat di mana tidak ada budak, tidak ada algojo atau penindas, di mana iman tidak membunuh..." Ini adalah komentarnya yang terakhir tentang Gereja Katolik pada masanya. Karena kecerdasannya yang luar biasa, teladannya terhadap para sahabat dan musuhnya, perjuangannya yang baik dan tidakannya yang berani atas nama perdamaian, ia menjulang melampaui semua pahlawan Filipina. Di tempat ia gugur kini berdiri sebuah patung, yang dirancang oleh pematung Swiss, Richard Kissling yang terkenal karena patungnya, "William Tell". Patung itu memuat tulisan: "Aku ingin memperlihatkan kepada orang-orang yang mencabut hak mereka untuk mencintai negaranya, bahwa ketika kita tahu bagaimana mengorbankan diri kita demi tugas dan keyakinan kita, maut tidaklah menjadi masalah bila seseorang mati untuk mereka yang dicintainya– untuk negaranya dan untuk mereka yang dicintainya".
José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Realonda (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse riˈsal]; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist and polymath during the tail end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. An ophthalmologist by profession, Rizal became a writer and a key member of the Filipino Propaganda Movement which advocated political reforms for the colony under Spain. He was executed by the Spanish colonial government for the crime of rebellion after the Philippine Revolution, inspired in part by his writings, broke out. Though he was not actively involved in its planning or conduct, he ultimately approved of its goals which eventually led to Philippine independence. He is widely considered one of the greatest heroes of the Philippines and has been recommended to be so honored by an officially empaneled National Heroes Committee. However, no law, executive order or proclamation has been enacted or issued officially proclaiming any Filipino historical figure as a national hero. He was the author of the novels Noli Me Tángere and El filibusterismo, and a number of poems and essays.
Moments before his execution on December 30, 1896, by a squad of Filipino soldiers of the Spanish Army, a backup force of regular Spanish Army troops stood ready to shoot the executioners should they fail to obey orders. The Spanish Army Surgeon General requested to take his pulse: it was normal. Aware of this the sergeant commanding the backup force hushed his men to silence when they began raising "vivas" with the highly partisan crowd of Peninsular and Mestizo Spaniards. His last words were those of Jesus Christ: "consummatum est", – it is finished. He was secretly buried in Pacò Cemetery in Manila with no identification on his grave. His sister Narcisa toured all possible gravesites and found freshly turned earth at the cemetery with guards posted at the gate. Assuming this could be the most likely spot, there never having been any ground burials, she made a gift to the caretaker to mark the site "RPJ", Rizal's initials in reverse.
His undated poem Mi último adiós, believed to have been written a few days before his execution, was hidden in an alcohol stove, which was later handed to his family with his few remaining possessions, including the final letters and his last bequests.[47]:91 During their visit, Rizal reminded his sisters in English, "There is something inside it", referring to the alcohol stove given by the Pardo de Taveras which was to be returned after his execution, thereby emphasizing the importance of the poem. This instruction was followed by another, "Look in my shoes", in which another item was secreted. Exhumation of his remains in August 1898, under American rule, revealed he had been uncoffined, his burial not on sanctified ground granted the 'confessed' faithful, and whatever was in his shoes had disintegrated. And now he is buried in Rizal Monument in Manila.
In his letter to his family he wrote: "Treat our aged parents as you would wish to be treated...Love them greatly in memory of me...December 30, 1896." He gave his family instructions for his burial: "Bury me in the ground. Place a stone and a cross over it. My name, the date of my birth and of my death. Nothing more. If later you wish to surround my grave with a fence, you can do it. No anniversaries." In his final letter, to Blumentritt – Tomorrow at 7, I shall be shot; but I am innocent of the crime of rebellion. I am going to die with a tranquil conscience. Rizal is believed to be the first Filipino revolutionary whose death is attributed entirely to his work as a writer; and through dissent and civil disobedience enabled him to successfully destroy Spain's moral primacy to rule. He also bequeathed a book personally bound by him in Dapitan to his 'best and dearest friend.' When Blumentritt received it in his hometown Litoměřice (Leitmeritz) he broke down and wept.
