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<img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-18/ferdinand-blumentritt-2.webp" alt="Ferdinand Johann Franz Blumentritt" loading="lazy" />
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(Sketch of Ferdinand Blumentritt by Juan Luna in Leitmeritz, April 8, 1899)
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He was a teacher, secondary school principal in Leitmeritz, lecturer, and author of articles and books in the Philippines and its ethnography. Blumentritt never visited the Philippine islands. 
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He is well known in the Philippines for his close friendship with writer and propagandist, who later became Philippine national hero, Dr. <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1190/today-in-philippine-history-june-19-1861-dr-jose-p-rizal-was-born-in-calamba-laguna" class="news_link">Jose Rizal</a>.  Blumentritt's relationship with Rizal began as early as July 1886. The numerous correspondence between the two provide a vital reference for Rizal historians and scholars, including his last letter from prison before the execution.
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Blumentritt became one of Rizal's closest confidants although they met only once. He translated a chapter of the latter's first book, <a href="https://kahimyang.com/articles/3266/jose-rizals-noli-me-tangere-a-novel-that-awakened-a-nation" class="news_link">Noli Me Tangere</a>, into German and wrote the preface to Rizal's second book, <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1276/today-in-philippine-history-september-18-1891-dr-jose-rizals-el-filibusterismo-was-published-in-ghent-belgium" class="news_link">El filibusterismo</a>, although he was against its publication as he believed that it would lead to Rizal's death. These two novels are commentaries disguised as fiction which angered both the Catholic Church and the Spanish colonial government, and which eventually led to <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1387/today-in-philippine-history-december-30-1896-dr-jose-rizal-was-shot-in-bagumbayan" class="news_link">Rizal's 1896 trial and execution</a>. Before the execution in Manila, Rizal wrote his final letter for Blumentritt. Blumentritt reportedly cried after receiving the letter.
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September 10, 1853: Ferdinand Blumentritt, Rizal's close friend, was born in Prague