Aside from his exemplary virtues of patriotism, bravery, kindness, and compassion, Dr. Jose Rizal also possesses qualities that are not known to many people, even to some of his countrymen, particularly the Filipino youth.
These qualities of Dr. Jose Rizal made him attractive to women; in fact, a handful of them had been romantically linked with him as mentioned in his literary pieces like his novels, poems, and essays.
No doubt, the late Philippine hero, Dr. Jose Rizal was truly an exemplar to the Filipinos, particularly to the young generation for his virtues that every Filipino can be proud of.
But there is this quality of him disliked by some Filipinos such as his alleged being a womanizer. It's public knowledge that the country's national hero had been linked to at least nine women according to the country's historians.
The country's historians claim that the country's national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal had a total of nine (9) women romantically involved with him.
But this number of women in Rizal's life was refuted by some historians. Some historians claim it could be more than nine (9) women romantically involved with him.
Josephine Bracken, his wife, and Leonor Rivera, his teenage flirtation, are the two notable love interests of Dr. Jose Rizal.
Though many believe that his romantic relationships could not have been serious as these girls were just teenagers when Jose Rizal met them and it could be just teenage flirtation between him and his love interests.
But what really drew women into Jose Rizal's life? Or what are the qualities that made women fall for him?
In this post, we'll be talking about the other qualities of Dr. Jose Rizal that made women attracted and fall for him. We will also discuss how Filipinos view Dr. Jose Rizal's link to many women.
Listed below are the four (4) qualities of Jose Rizal that made him romantically attractive to women:
Sense of humor
Unknown to many, the country's national hero has a sense of humor. He made many people laugh with his humor.
And this distinct quality of Dr. Jose Rizal made him attractive to women. Though being humorous is just among his few least known qualities.
This quality of Dr. Jose Rizal is evident in his literary pieces such as novels and poems.
Intelligence
Intelligence is undisputedly one of the best qualities of Dr. Jose Rizal. He was innately an intelligent person for which he gained prominence not just in the Philippines but also in many countries.
People close to him could attest to his being a voracious reader. His love for books further made him more intelligent.
When he was still alive Dr. Jose Rizal would read books of different genres making him knowledgeable in many things.
As a result of his being a reader, he became a good communicator. He could articulate and converse on a wide array of topics.
Charisma
Charisma or shall we call it the X-factor of Dr. Jose Rizal was his potent tool used in attracting women into his young, romantic life. Because of this distinct quality, Jose Rizal was able to converse with women effectively.
Likewise, his linguistic intelligence enabled him to compose poems with poetic and flowery words that made women giggle while reading them.
With this virtue, he was also able to passionately rally and inspire his countrymen in fighting against the colonizers.
This virtue is what set Dr. Jose Rizal apart from other heroes. His charm coupled with intelligence enabled him to rally his countrymen behind his cause.
Had it not for his charm, Rizal would not have succeeded in conveying his countrymen to fight the invaders.
Poet
One of the qualities of Dr. Jose Rizal that made him attractive to women was his being a good poet. Most of his literary pieces, either in English, Filipino, or Spanish were laden with flowery and poetic words.
Even the literary pieces addressed to his countrymen are laced with flowery words. No doubt, Rizal was a hyperpolyglot person be it written or verbal. His being a linguist also enabled him to converse with women of different nationalities.
Courteous
Rizal was also courteous and respectful to people from all walks of life, particularly to women.
There we have the four (4) qualities of Dr. Jose Rizal that make him attractive to women.
At the young age of 35, he was already romantically involved with many women.
Though some of these relationships are not that serious or it's just puppy love as they call it like his alleged romantic infatuation with Leonor Valenzuela and Segunda Katigbak who were both age 14 and Leonor Rivera who was just 15 then.
According to some historians, the country's national hero had been romantically involved with nine women. Though, some historians refute this number of women romantically linked to the country's national hero.
They claim that there were more than nine women involved in the young life of Dr. Jose Rizal. Rizal met and established romantic relationships with these women during his stay in the countries where these women live.
No doubt, the country's national hero had been a prominent figure in the fight against the colonizers. Despite being numerically inferior and ill-armed, Rizal and the other war heroes were able to put up a good fight against foreign enemies.
While the country's other war heroes used violence in fighting the invaders, Jose Rizal did it using pen and paper as potent weapons.
Dr. Jose Rizal's means of fighting was a rarity in the history of revolution. He had proven to the whole world that war is not only won by weapons alone.
Many decades have passed after his patriotic death, and yet Dr. Jose Rizal is still revered and idolized by many Filipinos.
Sadly, his heroism for his country and countrymen is hardly recognized and appreciated particularly by the Filipino youth to whom he pinned his hope for the country.
Undeniably, his charisma and social stature rallied and inspired many of his countrymen to fight the invaders.
But his romantic involvement with these women could be considered another aspect of his young life.
In the Philippines, many viewed him as a womanizer, a quality that is not worth emulating, particularly among the Filipino youth.
But some Filipinos claim that Dr. Jose Rizal was just human. He had his own emotional frailties when it comes to romantic relationships.
Trivia
How many brothers and sisters did Dr. Jose Rizal have?