Jose Rizal’s Wife: Was Josephine Bracken a ‘bad omen’ in the hero’s life?

Editor’s note: This talks about “Jose Rizal wife,” his “dear Josephine Bracken.” A textbook author discusses for us here how the two met and lived as husband and wife. Let us find out how some conclude that she brought misfortune to the hero’s life.

A few hours before Jose Rizal’s execution, He and Josephine Bracken embraced for the last time. He gave her a souvenir—a religious book with his dedication, “To my dear unhappy wife, Josephine.”

‘Jose Rizal wife’: Her early life

Marie Josephine Leopoldine Bracken was born on August 9, 1876 in Victoria, Hong Kong. She was the youngest of the five children of an Irish couple, British army corporal James Bracken and Elizabeth Jane MacBride. The two were married on May 3, 1868 in Belfast, Ireland.

But a few days after giving birth to Josephine, her mother Elizabeth died. Her father decided to give her up for adoption to her childless godparents, American George Taufer, an engineer of the pumping plant of the Hong Kong Fire Department, and his Portuguese (second) wife. Josephine’s real father (James) left Hong Kong after retirement and was said to have died at the hands of robbers in Australia.

When Josephine was 7, her godmother—whose name Leopoldine was added to her own—also died. In 1891, her foster father remarried another Portuguese lady from Macau, Francesca Spencer. Because Josephine could not get along with Taufer’s new wife, she (Josephine) ran away and sought shelter in a boarding house run by nuns. After two months, either she was taken back or she voluntarily returned home. (More about her here: Josephine Bracken: Jose Rizal’s Dear and Unhappy Wife)

Meeting in Dapitan

Josephine and Taufer first met Rizal in Hongkong, when they consulted the Filipino doctor for Taufer’s failing eyesight. In 1895, the (foster) father and daughter sailed to the Philippines to seek treatment from Rizal for Taufer’s cataract. They arrived in Manila on February 5, and later that month, Josephine, George, and a certain mysterious Manuela Orlac, sailed to Dapitan where Rizal had been living as a political exile for three years.

The petite Josephine who had blue eyes and brown hair was 18 years old at the time of their arrival in Dapitan. Josephine was said to be not a remarkable beauty, but she “had an agreeable countenance because of the childlike expression of her face, her profound blue and dreamy eyes and abundant hair of brilliant gold” (Alburo, n.d.).

It is thus said that the lonely Rizal was attracted to Josephine who was a happy character, despite having lived a difficult life with her adoptive father and his various wives. Unsurprisingly, the Jose Rizal and Josephine Bracken easily fell in love with each other.

Taufer’s opposition

Rizal worked on Taufer’s eyes but later told the patient that the illness was incurable. It is supposed that it was this news, plus Josephine’s wish to stay with Rizal and “the marriage in Manila of a daughter by his [Taufer’s] first wife” (Alburo, n.d.) which led the distressed Taufer to slash his wrist (some say ‘throat’)—an attempt which Jose Rizal and Josephine Bracken had fortunately averted.

Taufer’s supposed furious jealousy and strong opposition to the couple’s union caused Josephine to accompany him as he left for Manila on March 14, 1895, together with Rizal’s sister, Narcisa. Josephine nonetheless carried an interesting letter from Rizal for her mother, Doña Teodora.

When Taufer left for Hong Kong without Josephine Bracken, she stayed with Narcisa. The rest of Rizal’s family, however, was suspicious of Josephine of something sinister.

Marrying Josephine

Some references claim that even before Taufer and Josephine left for Manila, Rizal had already proposed to her and applied for their marriage. Dapitan parish priest Antonio Obach, however, wanted improbable things as conditions for granting Jose Rizal’s request.

So when Josephine Bracken returned to Dapitan, the church wedding she hoped for could not happen. With Josephine’s consent, Rizal nonetheless took her as his wife even without the Roman Catholic blessings. The couple married themselves before the eyes of God by “holding hands in the presence of two witnesses” (Alburo, n.d.).

About this, Doña Teodora told her excommunicated son something that somewhat gave Rizal a peace of mind. But still believing that his live-in relationship was somewhat of a shame, Rizal never told his friend and confidant about it.

Josephine as ‘Jose Rizal wife’

Jose Rizal and Josephine Bracken lived together either in Rizal’s ‘casa cuadrada’ or octagonal bamboo house in Dapitan. (About his houses and life in Dapitan, read: Jose Rizal’s Bitter Sweet Life in Dapitan)

In his letters to his family, Rizal related that Josephine “turned the house into a love nest, stocking the pantry with preserves and pickles” (Alburo, n.d.). To prove the depiction, Jose’s letters were accompanied by packages of food prepared by Josephine.

Josephine Bracken kept house and took good care of ‘Joe,’ her nickname for Rizal. She “cooked, washed, sewed, and fed the chickens. She learned to make suman (a sticky rice dessert wrapped in banana leaves), bagoong, noodles, and bread. With the Spanish she learned from Rizal, she could write a simple letter.

Jose Rizal’s son

Before the year ended in 1895, the couple had a child who was born prematurely. “Rizal’s sisters say the boy was named Peter; others say he was named Francisco, after Don Francisco Mercado.” Unfortunately, the son died a few hours after birth. (Read the reason here: Did Jose Rizal have a son (or children)?)

Rizal was said to have “made a pencil sketch of the dead infant on the jacket of a medical book. He then buried the baby in an unmarked grave in a secluded part of Talisay” (Bantug & Ventura, 1997, p. 121).

Leaving Dapitan

On July 30, 1896, Rizal received a letter from the governor general sanctioning his petition to serve as volunteer physician in Cuba. In the late afternoon of July 31, Rizal and Josephine got on the ‘España’ along with Narcisa, a niece, three nephews, and three of his students. The steamer departed at midnight of July 31 and arrived in Manila on August 6.

But something came out which led to Rizal’s being arrested. (Read here: Jose Rizal: Tagalog Biography of the Bayaning Pilipino)

While Rizal was being kept under arrest aboard the cruiser ‘Castilla’ docked at Cavite, Josephine stayed in Narcisa’s home in Manila. While waiting for Jose’s fate, she “filled her time with tutoring in English and taking piano lessons from one of her 15 pupils” (Alburo, n.d.).

Goodbye Jose

When Rizal was tried on the morning of December 26, 1896, Josephine was said to be among the spectators inside the military building, Cuartel de España, along with some newspapermen and many Spaniards (G. Zaide & S. Zaide, 1984, p. 259).

At about 6 p.m. on the day before Rizal’s execution, Josephine Bracken arrived in Fort Santiago. Rizal called for her and they emotionally talked to each other.

Though some accounts state that Josephine was forbidden from seeing her husband on the fateful day of his martyrdom, the historian Gregorio Zaide wrote that at 5:30 a.m., she and Josefa (Rizal’s sister) came.

The couple was said to have embraced for the last time and Rizal gave to Josephine the book ‘Imitation of Christ’ (by Thomas a Kempis) on which he lovingly wrote: “To my dear and unhappy wife, Josephine/ December 30th, 1896/ Jose Rizal”. (For other details, read: Jose Rizal’s Last 25 Hours: Eventful, Dramatic, Historic)

There’s an allegation that either the evening before or in the early morning of Rizal’s day of execution, the couple was married in a ceremony officiated by the priest Vicente Balanguer. Nonetheless, the members of Rizal family themselves seriously doubt the claim.

‘Jose Rizal Wife’: After Rizal’s death

Not known to many, after Rizal was executed, many things happened to ‘Jose Rizal wife.’ There are historical records that she joined the Katipunan (KKK), had worked with Emilio Aguinaldo and Paciano Rizal (Jose’s brother), went back to Taufer’s house in Hong Kong, and petitioned for her share of Rizal’s library in Hong Kong (though to no avail).

Later, she also married a Philippine-born mestizo from Cebu, had a daughter (who, unlike Jose’s son, survived), lived in Cebu with a bicycle store, and even tutored someone who later became the President of the Philippines. All these and more are tackled in my: What happened to Josephine Bracken When Jose Rizal Died?

‘Jose Rizal Wife’: Did she bring misfortune to Jose Rizal?

Some of my colleagues conclude (seriously or otherwise), in hindsight, that Josephine Bracken was a sort of ‘bad omen’ (if ever you believe in that) in Jose Rizal’s life. They exclaim, “Malas siya sa buhay ni Rizal.”

This ‘theory’ they base on the observation that almost everyone who had become connected to Josephine had untimely death—her own mother (who died shortly after giving birth to her), her real father, her Portuguese step mother, Jose Rizal, Mr. Taufer, and his second husband.

Some even go as far as claiming that this was primarily the reason the Rizal family did not like Bracken even after the death of Jose Rizal.

Conclusion

Whether or not Josephine Bracken was a bad omen in Rizal’s life is, of cource, a matter of opinion. But what is sure is that Jose Rizal and his wife loved each other, without a doubt.

Far from being selfish, Josephine Bracken thought of leaving Dapitan to save Rizal from further humiliation. In fact, she even selflessly induced Rizal to get married should he find someone else in Spain.

While Rizal was waiting for a ship which would bring him to his medical mission in Cuba, Josephine wrote him this selfless unedited letter dated August 13, 1896 (as cited in Ocampo, 2009, para. 13):

If you go to Spain, you see any one of your fancy you better marry her but, dear, heare me, better marry than to live like we have been doing. I am not ashamed to let people know my life with you but as your dear Sisters are ashamed I think you had better get married to some one else. Your sister Narcisa and your Father, they are very good and kind to me.

As a testament of his love for her, Jose Rizal made use of his common-law wife as a model and inspiration in at least two of his artworks: a carving of her head and shoulder (side view) and a plaster statue of her reclining.

When Josephine temporarily left Dapitan to accompany Taufer to Manila, Rizal gave her this short poem:

“A Josefina”

Josephine
Who to these shores came,
Searching for a home, a nest,
Like the wandering swallows,
If your fate guides you
To Shanghai, China, or Japan,
Forget not that on these shores
A heart beats for you.

In Rizal’s last and greatest poem posthumously entitled “Mi Ultimo Adios,” there’s a line which reads, “Adios, dulce estranjera, mi amiga, mi alegria” which is now commonly translated, “Farewell, sweet foreigner, my darling, my delight!” As the line is conventionally accepted as Rizal’s farewell to his “dear unhappy wife,” Josephine Bracken had thus earned the historical moniker, “Rizal’s dulce estranjera (sweet foreigner).”

Josephine, for his part, had also immortalized her affection for Rizal through her letters with which she consoled him when he was on his way to Cuba and during his prison days. Some of her letters involved matters like sending him his clothing and the foods he loved like a hundred sweet santoles, lansones, and cheese. But Bracken’s letter dated August 13, 1896 stands out as it manifests the purity of her love to our national hero (The content can be read here: The Colorful Love Affairs of Dr. Jose Rizal)

So, did Josephine Bracken deserve to be Jose Rizal’s “dear wife”? Write your comment below.

Copyright 203 to present by Jensen DG. Mañebog

Check Out: The Colorful Love Affairs of Dr. Jose Rizal by Jensen DG. Mañebog

Jensen DG. Mañebog, the contributor, is an author of textbooks and professorial lecturer emeritus in the graduate school of a state university in Metro Manila. His unique e-books on Rizal (available online) comprehensively tackle, among others, the respective life of Rizal’s parents, siblings, co-heroes, and girlfriends. (e-mail: [email protected])

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The Interesting Tales of the Jose Rizal Family
 by Jensen DG. Mañebog