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José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was born on 19 June 1861 in Calamba, in Laguna Province on Luzon, the seventh of eleven children of Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso. The family leased land from the Dominicans and was well off; it had Chinese, Filipino and Spanish ancestors. His mother taught him to read and gave him his love of literature.

In 1872 three Filipino priests, Gomez, Burgos and Zamora, were executed after a mutiny in Cavite; Rizal's elder brother Paciano was a friend of Burgos. Rizal studied at the Jesuit Ateneo Municipal and the University of Santo Tomas. Dissatisfied with the treatment of Filipino students, he left for Spain in 1882.

In Madrid Rizal obtained degrees in medicine and philosophy, after which he specialised in ophthalmology in Paris and Heidelberg. He spoke several languages, wrote poetry and essays, sculpted and drew, and corresponded with European scholars such as the Austrian ethnologist Ferdinand Blumentritt.

In 1887 'Noli me tángere' appeared in Berlin, a novel about life in the colony that criticised the power of the religious orders, corruption and injustice. In 1891 the darker sequel 'El filibusterismo' followed in Ghent. He wrote for the reform journal 'La Solidaridad' and advocated equal rights, representation in the Spanish parliament and the secularisation of parishes, not armed revolt.

Back in Manila he founded the Liga Filipina in July 1892, an association for reform and mutual aid. A few days later he was arrested and exiled to Dapitan on Mindanao. There he worked for four years as a physician, teacher and surveyor, built a water supply and collected plants and animals for European museums.

The Philippines had been a Spanish colony since the 16th century, governed from Manila with great influence of the Catholic religious orders. In the 19th century an educated middle class, the ilustrados, emerged and absorbed liberal ideas from Europe. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 brought Europe closer and made travel and the exchange of ideas easier.

In Spain liberal and conservative governments alternated, while after the loss of most of its American colonies the empire still included Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. In 1892 Andrés Bonifacio founded the secret revolutionary organisation Katipunan, which launched an armed uprising in August 1896.

Rizal's novels made Filipino criticism of the colonial order visible and circulated, despite a ban, among educated Filipinos. The Katipunan drew inspiration from his name, although Rizal rejected an armed uprising at that time. After his execution support for the revolution grew.

After the Spanish–American War of 1898 the Philippines came under American rule. The American colonial government promoted the image of Rizal as a moderate reformer, which contributed to his status as national hero. Historians discuss how that image relates to that of revolutionaries such as Andrés Bonifacio.

In 1896 Rizal was arrested on his way to Cuba, where he intended to serve as an army doctor, and brought back to Manila. A military court convicted him of rebellion, sedition and conspiracy. On 30 December 1896 he was executed by firing squad at Bagumbayan. In his cell he wrote the farewell poem 'Mi último adiós'.

30 December is a national holiday in the Philippines. A 1956 law requires his life and works to be taught in schools and universities. The park in Manila where he was executed is now called Rizal Park, and his novels are regarded as classics of Filipino literature.