Maximo Viola on Germany: Of meeting with German Scientists and Filipinologists:
Fedor Jagor, Rudolf Virchow and Hans B. Meyer (1886)
Berlin, 1886
One bright clear day,
Rizal came stomping up the stair landing loaded with books. He came from the
Berlin Royal library.
“Get up, Intsik,” he shouted. This nickname (Chink)
was his way of getting back to me because my pet name for him was Chino.[1]
Rizal had this early-to-rise habit of
walking and doing errands.
I got up and rubbed
my eyes muttering, “You are impossible!”
Quick as a yo-yo he shot
back. “No, no. Say it in German - “Du bist unmöglich!” and he pursed his lips to emphasize the umlaut
vowel. He never missed an opportunity to be my German tutor. Twice a week he
gives me German lessons as partial repayment for the printing cost of Noli me tángere, which I shouldered.
Excited like an adventurous
college freshman, Rizal found several volumes of original research on the
Philippines by Wilhelm von Humboldt, Paul de la Gironière, Jean Mallat, Fedor
Jagor and Adolf Bernhard Meyer among others.
Humboldt’s books (3
volumes) on the socio-linguistics, ethnology, cultural anthropology and other properties
of the Malayo-Polynesian languages were full of Tagalog references including his
insightful analyses.
“Listen to this,”
Rizal read aloud to me, beaming with pride.
“The Tagalog language is especially important for these
investigations:
1.
Because it has considerable agreement with Malay;
2.
Because it has the richest grammatical development
among these languages, and because the grammar of the others can be understood
completely through Tagalog grammar. It stands in a relationship to them which
is similar to that of Sanskrit grammar to Greek;
3.
Because neither Arabic nor the Indian religion and
literature, which have been very active in Sumatra and Java, have changed its
specific color;
4.
Because in no other language exist such rich
materials, a whole series of dictionaries and grammars published again and
again. Here one sees the fruit of the thoroughness and the unflagging efforts
of the Spanish priests.” [2]
Humboldt was a
diplomat, educator, and a man of letters. He was the founder of the University
of Berlin otherwise called Humboldt University. His younger brother, Alexander von Humboldt,
was a geographer who introduced iso-lines in cartography resulting in German mapping
achievement that can’t be underestimated.
Rizal suggested a methodical
plan. We both will read and study
Humboldt. Concerning the other authors, we will divide the readings. Rizal, whose facility in French is better
than mine, will read the French authors Paul de la Gironière and Jean Mallat. I will read the German authors, Fedor Jagor
and Adolph Bernhard Meyer to improve my German.
I already know how
efficient he is in retaining whatever he read because we tested our memory
skills. Last year when he last visited
me in Barcelona, we opened an engineering textbook randomly and committed a
paragraph to memory. Today, upon my
prompting, he was able to recite back the same paragraph in such comprehensive photographic
detail; I swear it was as if he was actually reading from the text.
At the end of each
day, we agreed to share and discuss our readings and findings at dinnertime. I got
to know and appreciate the Philippine research not found elsewhere, and within
a short period of time, we enriched our knowledge of early Philippine
conditions from original sources through the eyes of Europeans. Rizal immediately sent a letter to Blumentritt
saying, “Humboldt’s work is worthy of admiration… I’m going to buy me a set of
his books.”
Paul de la Gironiere’s
book was Aventures d’un Gentilhomme
Breton aux iles Philippines, 1855. (Adventures of a Breton Gentleman in the
Philippine Islands.) Gironière was a naval surgeon who decided to stay in
Manila from 1819 to 1833. He bought a farm in Jala-jala, Laguna. He describes
his life as a planter. For twenty years
he absorbed the life and customs of his “adopted” town, even dressing himself like
a native. According to Rizal, it is very amusing and informative to read. But sometimes Rizal believes Gironière is
carried away by his Euro-centric imagination.
Jean Mallat’s
book was Les iles Philippines considérées
au pont de vue de l’hydrographie et de linguistique, 1843. (The Philippine Islands considered from the
viewpoint of hydrography and linguistics). He was a geographer who explored
the Philippine archipelago, especially Sulu. That same year he published Archipel de Solou ou Description des groups
de Basilan de Sulou et de Tawi-Tawi. (The Sulu Archipelago or a Description of
the Island Groups of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.)
Rizal thought Mallat
talked to Gironière, or else copied from him because Mallat expressed the same Gironiere’s
opinions. What caught Rizal’s attention was Mallat’s description of the Tagalogs
“who are very polite among themselves.” This was the use of "pô" and addressing each other in the third person plural "Kayo pô".
Rizal also was thrilled that Mallat published beautiful colored paintings of
the costumes worn by the natives. In
addition Mallat described the ancient Baybayin syllabary used by the natives.
Mallat adds that this indigenous alphabet has been replaced completely by the
Roman alphabet, introduced by the Spaniards.
Fedor Jagor, born
in Berlin, travelled to the Philippines between 1859 and 1860 and had written
one of the most interesting and lively travel accounts entitled Reisen in den Philippinen (Travels in the
Philippines). It contains
ethnographic and geographic descriptions, maps, and drawings. Jagor was
critical of the Spaniards living in Intramuros.
He wrote: “Life inside the walls is not very pleasant: pride, envy, job hunting,
caste prejudice are daily occurrences. The Spaniards think they are better then
their Creole counterparts, at the same time there is hate and envy among the
whites and the mestizos.”[3]
What I find so
particularly intriguing was Fedor Jagor’s praise for the beauty and elegance of
the women in Bulacan. My father was born and raised in Bulacan, so I agreed
with most of Jagor’s observations.) He
visited the towns of Calumpit, Baliuag, and Malolos. Fedor Jagor surprisingly described
almost every volcano in full detail. He also went to Leyte where high up on a cliff
off Nipa-nipa bluff, he discovered an ancient burial cave with several
skeletons. In order to study these artifacts more closely, he brought back to
Berlin with him two skulls. He gave one to
Professor Rudolf Virchow, the ethno biologist, who in turn published his paper entitled
Old and New Skulls from the Philippines.
Adolph Bernhard Meyer
was a zoologist, anthropologist, and linguist who wrote about the Negritos or Aetas
of Zambales, Luzon, having spent several weeks living among them. He also
visited the South Philippine islands of Sulu and Mindanao. I benefited a lot
from reading A. B. Meyer’s work for two reasons:
First, he brought with him some Negrito skulls from the Philippines,
which can be found in the Royal National History Collection in Dresden. (Meyer
became the Director of this Museum.) He was interested in physical
anthropology. In 1885 he published a series of books with pictures of
Filipinos. His interest in Negritos will occupy him for the rest of his life.
Second, his
vocabulary list of the language of Sulu benefited me personally as a German
language student because on one side, he wrote the German translation. Ex: Give
me some wine. Gehen Sie mir etwas Wein!
Dihille ako tju-tju ang alak.
I made a note to
myself that in 1890 A. B. Meyer wrote an article on the alphabet of the
“Mangians” of Mindoro. I should get this piece because this syllabary is still
being used by the present Mangyans of Mindoro. I was raised i nMindoro and I have Mangyan friends and classmates.
Fortunately, Ferdinand
Blumentritt knew Fedor Jagor, Rudolph Virchow, and Adolph B. Meyer personally. He provided Rizal with letters of
introduction. Thus Rizal wasted no time in arranging an appointment for us to
visit. Now, Rizal and I can truthfully
have something to say and not feel like we are
“wandering aimlessly” wasting their time. But Rizal had a deeper agenda
in meeting with the German Filipinologist scholars. Several had learned of the
Philippines mostly through the Spanish friars’ point of view. That must change.
Professor Fedor Jagor,
at age 70, acted like a Dean of Graduate Studies. He was most solicitous of our
presence. He must have been dashingly handsome, sprightly, and cheerful when he
traveled to the Philippines in 1859 at age 43.
However, in some sections of his writings, Fedor Jagor’s view of the native
“indio” mirrors the unfavorable image he must have received from his sources.
Dr. Fedor Jagor introduced
Rizal to Dr. Rudolf Virchow, the president of the Ethnological and Anthropological
Society of Berlin. Virchow looked much younger than his 65 years. His spectacles
rested on a straight nose and a fashionable trimmed mustache paired with a salt
and pepper short beard framed his strong mouth. This founder of physical
anthropology looked keenly at Rizal and danced a rondo around him, mentally measuring
Rizal’s cranial dimensions, as he had done before on the 2,000 skulls in his
laboratory at the Charité Hospital.
Then he announced in
a loud stentorian voice, half –joking, half-serious:
“I ‘vant’ to study YOU ethnographically.”
Rizal was just
waiting for this right moment. We had
done our homework. We knew that Jagor
had brought him a skull from Leyte and that similarly A. B. Meyer brought him a
Negrito Aeta skull. He had an Igorot skull perched on his top shelf, complacently
looking over his personal library.
Rizal replied without
batting an eyelash and bowing courteously;
“I’m willing to
submit myself as a Tagalog specimen for the benefit of science.”
Then he turned and quickly
grabbed me by the arm. He gleefully pushed
me right in front of Dr. Virchow’s face and said;
“And may I further
volunteer another specimen of the Tagalog race for your study-- my countryman,
Dr. Máximo Viola!”
Virchow’s eyes lit
like fireworks. He was so enamored by the
quick reaction of this young fellow (age 25). But I wasn’t just standing there like a wooden
skinny pole. I played my part by intoning
in mock tones:
“Lucky you. Instead of ancient skulls, you’ll have two
living and breathing Tagalog specimen.”
All eyes were upon me. I was an
instant celebrity.
The sound of laughter
surfed above the din like the ocean beach at Manila Bay. We had captivated our audience! They were
appreciative of our collegiality as we regaled them--between toasts of beer--
with answers to their questions about Philippine society and culture well into
the evening. In exchange, the German scientists
and scholars in our midst shared their Philippine research studies with us. Rizal’s
mind was as sharp as a rapier as he posed critical questions.
Immediately I sent a
letter to my family back home to say that I had never seen Rizal before in high
spirits. He foiled some ideas the German
scientists had about the Philippines obtained from Dominican and Augustinian
grammarians. He advanced valuable points of views from the perspective of early
17th century native Filipino authors Tomas Pinpin [4]
and a contemporary one, Pardo de Tavera, about the native syllabary saying:
“We have great intellects like Tomas Pinpin, and Trinidad Pardo de
Tavera,[5]
on the topic of ancient Philippine writings.
Rizal and I observed
many Germans who were studying and publishing their works on the Philippines.
He turned to me and bemoaned:
“Isn’t it a disgrace that we have to leave Spain and the Philippines and
come here to Germany in order to access important knowledge about our own
country?”
At one point, we cornered
Professors Jagor and Virchow and asked them of a single event of which each was
proud. We needed a personal story to tell our friends back home.
Dr. Jagor strutted
and crowed like a barnyard rooster:
Dr. Virchow lazily slouched
into his chair, opened up like a lotus flower going into slow full bloom, and then
gave us this narrative:
“I served in the German
parliament and opposed Bismarck again and again for his heightened militarization.
One day, furious, he challenged me to a duel. I accepted and so consequently I got
to choose the weapons. I chose two pork sausages. One I infected with the
larvae of the roundworm trichinella.
Combatants will each randomly chose to eat a sausage.
Bismarck refused to participate.” [7]
We were invited to
attend subsequent monthly meetings. We met Dr. Rudolf Virchow, Jr., head of the
anatomy department, including many of his scientist friends.
Rizal was nominated for
membership into the Ethnographical and Anthropological Society of Berlin on the
strength of his having discussed and engaged single-handedly the arguments
given by the community of ethnologists, anthropologists and socio-linguists,
whose expertise depended on secondary sources obtained from Spanish documents.
Rizal explained how the
different source dictionaries of Friars Domingo de los Santos, Sebastian
Totanes, Juan de Noceda and Pedro de San Lucar, contained structural flaws. Rizal was so brilliant citing extemporaneously
from Humboldt, de la Gironiere, J Mallat, and important research findings by encyclopaedists,
grammarians and scientists. He disagreed
and challenged Spanish assumptions about the Filipino natives as “accepted
truth” held by several European Filipinologists.
He gave them his
insights about the artificial orthography (spelling) of Tagalog words using Hispanismos. Rizal knew from the trend of the discussions
and questions that they audience wanted some Filipino perspectives.
As for me, I peppered
my arguments with citations from W.
Humboldt and Theodor Waitz, the German ethnologist. I offered Prof. Jagor alternative conclusions
about his Bulacan observations and research.
Our studies paid off. They were
impressed!
The Geographical
Society of Berlin under the leadership of Professor Fedor Jagor nominated him
for membership. They were astounded by Rizal’s breadth and depth of
understanding.
He was accepted as a
member of the Ethnological and Anthropological Society through the presentation
of his original treatise on “The
Metrical Art of Tagalog.” This paper (written in perfect German as Tagalische Verskunst) immediately won the
highest praise of the members. Dr.
Virchow considered it an original; not a piece of trite research presentation
and Rizal was conferred a membership on its strength alone.
I guess I’m the only
one among the many Filipinos who heard Rizal speak in German and who actually delivered a
research presentation to a German scholarly and admiring crowd. It was truly amazing!
If the walls of the
Berlin Ethnological and Anthropological Society building could talk, what would
it say about that day when two young intellectual specimen of the Tagalog race
charmed them with their presence?
[1]
There was a time when all the expatriate members
of the Circulo Hispano-Filipino in Madrid addressed each other familiarly with Intsik or Insek. Rizal had Chinese
forbears. So did Pedro Paterno, Teodoro
Sandico, Evaristo Evangelista, Felix Roxas and others. Rizal’s compatriots in the Propaganda
Movement conquered this derogatory nuance of the term by owning it and applying
it to themselves if only in jest. It will be recalled that in 19th
century Philippines, the Chinese merchant class married into the local
principalia. Their offspring became the Filipino Sangley mestizos (Sang-li is
Chinese for merchant). They were well educated, possessing entrepreneurial
skills, successful and innovative businessmen and intellectuals. Thus they turned into highly upperly mobile prosperous,
wealthy and powerful individuals.
[2]
Salazar, Marlies. 2012. Perspectives on Philippine Languages, Five
Centuries of European Scholarship. Q.C., Ateneo Press, p 49.
[3]
Salazar, Ibid. p. 96
[4]
Pinpin, Tomas. 1610. Librong paralang sulat ni
Tomas Pinpin, tauong Tagalog, sa mana capoua niya Tagalog, na nag aabang
magaral nang dilan macagagaling sa canila. Manila. Dominican Press.
[5]
Pardo de
Tavera, Trinidad H. 1884. Contributiones para el estudio de los antiguos
alfabetos Filipinos. Lausanne.
[6]
Lietz, Rudolf, J.H. 1998. The
Philippines in the 19th Century: A Collection of Prints. Mandaluyong: Gallery Systems, p. 44.
[7] Virchow was opposed to Bismarck’s militarization
effort. This angered Bismarck into
challenging him to a duel. Virchow accepted and being entitled to chose the
weapons selected two pork sausages: a cooked sausage for himself and an
uncooked one, loaded with Trichinella larvae for Bismarck. wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/14/9/pdfs/08-6672.pdf. Retrieved
5/5/13.
