Josephine Bracken | |
|---|---|
 A studio portrait of Bracken in Filipino attire, 1896 | |
| Born | Marie Josephine Leopoldine Bracken (1876-08-09)9 August 1876 |
| Died | 14 March 1902(1902-03-14) (aged 25) |
| Resting place | Happy Valley Cemetery Hong Kong[1] |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Other names | Josefina |
| Known for | La viuda de Rizal (The widow of Rizal) |
| Spouses | |
| Partner | José Rizal (1895–1896) |
| Children | 2[1] |
Marie Josephine Leopoldine Bracken (August 9, 1876 – March 14, 1902) was thecommon-law wife of Filipino nationalistJosé Rizal during his exile inDapitan.[2][3][4] Hours before Rizal's execution on December 30, 1896, the couple were allegedly married atFort Santiago following Rizal's alleged reconciliation with theCatholic Church. Some sectors, including Rizal's family, dispute the marriage because no records were found regarding the union, even if it was attested by Bracken herself and the officiating priest.[4][5][6][7][8][excessive citations]
Bracken was born inHong Kong to Irish parents and was adopted by her blind American godfather. In 1895, Bracken travelled to Dapitan to accompany her adoptive father who wanted to seek treatment from Rizal, anophthalmologist who previously practiced in Hong Kong. There, Bracken and Rizal began their relationship but were unable to get married due to Rizal's conflict with the Church officials. Nonetheless, they cohabited and she gave birth to apremature son who died shortly after birth.
After Rizal's execution, Bracken supported theFilipino revolutionaries. However, the Spanish colonial authorities coerced her to leave the Philippines. After returning to Hong Kong, she remarried to a Filipino businessman and had a daughter. She died oftuberculosis, aged 25.
Bracken was born inVictoria Barracks inHong Kong on August 9, 1876, toIrish parents[4] James Bracken, acorporal in theBritish Army, and Elizabeth Jane McBride, who were married on May 3, 1868, inBelfast, Ireland. After her mother died shortly after childbirth, her father gave her up foradoption. She was taken in by her godfather, the American George Taufer, a blind and fairly well-to-do engineer of the pumping plant of theHong Kong Fire Department, and his late Portuguese wife. Taufer later remarried another Portuguese woman fromMacau, Francesca Spencer, with whom he had another daughter.[9]
In 1891, the second Mrs Taufer died, and the two young women managed the Taufer home.[10]
After that, Taufer decided to remarry again, but the new wife was a challenge for Bracken to deal with. She spent two months in the Convent of the Canossian Sisters, where she previously attended early years of school. She decided to return only after Taufer called at the convent's door, pleading with her to return home as his third wife was a bad housekeeper. Shortly after a few months, she had trouble again with the third Mrs Taufer, who haunted her out of the house.[11]
Bracken later recommended that her blind adoptive father seeJosé Rizal, who was a respectedophthalmologist and had practised atRednaxela Terrace in Hong Kong.[12] By this time, he was a politicalexile inDapitan in southern Philippines. The family sailed to the Philippines and arrived in Manila on February 5, 1895, and later that month, Bracken and Taufer sailed to Dapitan.
Taufer's doublecataract was beyond Rizal's help, but he fell in love with Bracken. Taufer vehemently opposed the union but finally yielded. Bracken accompanied Taufer to Manila on his way back to Hong Kong, together with Rizal's sister, Narcisa, on March 14, 1895. Rizal applied for marriage, but because of his writings and political stance, the local priest Father Obach would only agree to the ceremony if Rizal obtain permission from theBishop of Cebu. Either the Bishop did not write him back[13] or Rizal was not able to mail the letter because of Taufer's sudden departure.[14]
Before returning to Dapitan to live with Rizal, Bracken introduced herself to his family members in Manila. His mother suggested acivil marriage, which she believed to be a lesser "sacrament" but free fromhypocrisy— and thus less a burden to Rizal's conscience— than making any political retraction.[2] Nevertheless, Bracken and Rizal lived together as husband and wife inBarangay Talisay, Dapitan, beginning in July 1895. The couple had a son, Francisco Rizal y Bracken, who was born prematurely and died within a few hours of birth.[15][16]
While she was in a delicate condition, Rizal played a prank on her that was harmless in itself, which startled her so that she sprang forward and was struck against an iron stand. Though it was purely an accident and Rizal was scarcely at fault, he blamed himself for it, and his later devotion seems largely to have been trying to make amends.[17]
On the evening before his execution on December 30, 1896, on charges oftreason,rebellion, andsedition by the Spanish colonial government, the Catholic Church claimed that Rizal returned to the faith and was married to Bracken in a religious ceremony officiated by Father Vicente Balaguer,S.J. sometime between 5:00 AM and 6:00 AM, an hour before his scheduled execution at 7:00 AM.[8][18] Despite claims by Father Balaguer and Bracken herself, some sectors, including members of Rizal's family, disputed that the wedding had occurred because no records were found attesting to the union.
Following Rizal's death, Bracken joinedrevolutionary forces inCaviteprovince, where she took care of sick and wounded soldiers, boosting their morale,[1] and helping operate reloading jigs forMausercartridges at theImusArsenal under revolutionary general Pantaleón García.[citation needed] Imus was under threat of recapture, so Bracken, making her way through the thicket and mud, moved with the operation to the Cavite mountainredoubt ofMaragondon. She witnessed theTejeros Convention on March 22, 1897, before returning toManila, and was later summoned by theSpanish Governor-General, who threatened her with torture and imprisonment if she did not leave the colony. Owing, however, to her adoptive father'sAmerican citizenship, she could not be forcibly deported, but Bracken voluntarily returned to Hong Kong upon the advice of the American consul in Manila.[19]
Upon returning to Hong Kong, she once more lived in her father's house. After his death, she married Vicente Abad, aCebuanomestizo who represented his father'stabacalera company in the British territory, on December 14, 1898.[20] A daughter, Dolores Abad y Bracken, was born to the couple on April 17, 1900. A later testimony of Abad affirms that her mother "was already suffering fromtuberculosis of the larynx" at the time of the wedding.[21]
Bracken died of tuberculosis on March 14, 1902 in Hong Kong and was interred at theHappy Valley Cemetery.[1]
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