Rizal: Philippine Nationalist and Martyr
Book cover for Austin Coates’s Rizal Philippine Nationalist and Martyr .
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| Author | Austin Coates |
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| Country | Hong Kong |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
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Publication date
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1968 |
| Pages | 378 |
| ISBN | |
Rizal, subtitled Philippine Nationalist and Martyr, is the biographical book about Philippine national hero José Rizal written by British author Austin Coates. The book was published by the Oxford University Press in Hong Kong in 1968.
Coates's Rizal Philippine Nationalist and Martyr is the second biographical account of the life and career of Rizal authored by a non-Filipino (the first was Vida y Escritos del Dr. José Rizal or "Life and Writings of Dr. José Rizal" written by W.E. Retana that was published in 1907, thus Coates's book on Rizal was the first European biography of Rizal since that year). The first-edition copies of the hardcover version of the book were bound in green color, only three of which has José Rizal’s monogram stamped on the book cover. One is the file copy at the Oxford University Press. Another copy is owned by Coates himself. The third copy was given as a present to former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. Softcover reprints were also available.
Regarded as one of the "better biographers" of Rizal, Coates's book on Rizal is considered as one of the "very best biographies" on the Filipino national hero. In the biographical literature, Coates emphatically explained that Rizal was the "very first exponent" of nationalism in Asia.
In the book, Coates has a translation of Rizal's poem written in the Spanish-language retroactively titled "Mi Último Adiós", translated by scholars into the English as "My Last Farewell". Although not explored enough, it sheds light on Rizal’s "final statement," "state of mind," and "intimate view" of the Philippine Revolution before his death by firing squad. Floro Quibuyen discussed and compared Coates’s translation of the poem’s second stanza to the translation into English made by Nick Joaquín and into the first Tagalog version made by Andrés Bonifacio, with emphasis on the phrase in the second line that says "sin dudas sin pesar". According to Quibuyen, the second stanza of the poem captured Rizal’s connection between personal martyrdom and the Philippine Revolution.
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