Google is celebrating the 158th birth anniversary of Filipino hero Jose Rizal with a Doodle featuring his words that motivated the Philippine national movement.
The Doodle additionally depicts a quill pen, a powerful tool that Rizal utilized in his works and compositions as he battled for the freedom of the Filipinos. It additionally illustrates a magnifying glass to represent his occupation as a practicing ophthalmologist during his time.
Conceived in Calamba, Laguna on this day in 1861, Rizal learned to read and write by age five. He got his secondary training at Ateneo Municipal in Manila, and afterward ventured out abroad to study philosophy and medicine at the University of Madrid, the University of Paris, and the University of Heidelberg.
While living in Europe, Rizal started publishing a series of works including Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo (The Reign of Greed) which set up him as a main voice for change in his homeland. His interpretation of Antonio De Morga’s 1609 Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas featured the achievements of Filipino society prior to Spanish colonization.
He was likewise a frequent contributor of La Solidaridad, a paper published in Barcelona, where he upheld for the Philippines to be coordinated as an area of Spain with all the fundamental rights and portrayal given to the Filipino natives.
Today, Rizal is remembered as a Filipino national hero whose expression of love and devotion for his nation in his novels, essays, and articles inspired a revolution. A monument in Rizal’s honor stands in Rizal Park located in Roxas Boulevard, Manila.
Recently, Google Philippines joined the country in celebrating its 121st Independence Day with a Doodle featuring the Philippine flag.