José Protacio Rizal (1861-1896): Physician and Philippine national hero.

O ne hundred and fifty years ago, José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda was born on June 19, 1861 to Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y Alejandro and Teodora Morales Alonzo Realonda y Quintos in Calamba, Laguna, the Philippines.(1) A national hero of the Philippines, he is arguably the most revered Filipino of all time. Numerous streets, various institutions and a whole province are named after him, and memorials in his honour can be found around the world. He is even deified by a religious movement, the Rizalistas.(2) His multiple accomplishments marked him as a true renaissance individual. He was a linguist, poet, painter, sculptor, sportsman, scientist and patriot, whose writings led to his execution and sparked the Philippine Revolution of 1898.(1,3) He was also a physician and an ophthalmologist who insightfully dissected the ills of his patients and society.