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Chapter 18: Biarritz Vacation and Romance With Nelly Boustead (1891)

Rizal took a vacation in Biarritz, France as a guest of the wealthy Boustead family. There he developed a romance with the family's daughter Nellie, though their engagement failed to come to fruition due to religious differences and objections from Nellie's mother. During his stay in Biarritz, Rizal also finished writing his second novel El Filibusterismo. He then returned briefly to Paris and Brussels before stopping his work with the Propaganda Movement and La Solidaridad newspaper.

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6K views4 pages

Chapter 18: Biarritz Vacation and Romance With Nelly Boustead (1891)

Rizal took a vacation in Biarritz, France as a guest of the wealthy Boustead family. There he developed a romance with the family's daughter Nellie, though their engagement failed to come to fruition due to religious differences and objections from Nellie's mother. During his stay in Biarritz, Rizal also finished writing his second novel El Filibusterismo. He then returned briefly to Paris and Brussels before stopping his work with the Propaganda Movement and La Solidaridad newspaper.

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Sunshine Arceo
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Chapter 18: Biarritz Vacation and Romance with Nelly Boustead (1891)

To seek solace for his disappointments in Madrid, Rizal took a vacation in the resort city
of Biarritz on the fabulous French Riviera. He was a guest of the rich Boustead family at
its winter residence —Villa Eliada. He had befriended Mr. Eduardo Boustead and his
wife and two charming daughters (Adelina and Nellie) in Paris in 1889-90. It was in
Biarritz where he had serious romance with Nellie and finished the last chapter of his
second novel, El Filibusterismo.

With the Bousteads in Biarritz

 Rizal arrived in Biarritz at the beginning of February, 1891, he was warmly


welcomed by the Bousteads, particularly Mr. Boustead who had taken a great liking
for him because of his remarkable talents.

 As a family guest, he was treated with friendliness and hospitality.

 The one-month vacation in Biarritz worked wonders for Rizal. The scenic beaches
filled with tourists from all parts of the world, the refreshing breezes of the Atlantic
ocean, and the festive atmosphere of the city cheered his despondent spirit and made
him forget the bitter memories of Madrid.

 February 11, 1891 writing from Biarritz to Mariano Ponce, he said “I have put on
much weight since I arrived here; my cheeks are no longer shrunken as before for the
reason that I go to bed early and I have no cares.”

Romance with Nellie Boustead

 Biarritz, with its romantic gardens, delightful villas, and panoramic beauties, is an
ideal setting for romance.

 Rizal having lost his beloved Leonor, came to entertain considerable affection for
Nellie, the prettier and younger daughter of his host.
 He found her to be a real Filipina, highly intelligent, vivacious in temperament, and
morally upright.

 He wrote to his intimate friends, except Professor Blumentritt, of his love for Nellie,
also called Nelly, and his intention to propose marriage to her.

 Antonio Luna who had previously loved and lost Nelly, encouraged Rizal to woo and
marry her.

 With the encouragement of his close friends, Rizal courted Nelly who, in turn,
reciprocated his affection. Unfortunately, their romance beneath the lovely Biarritz
moon did not have a happy fairy tale finale.

 Rizal’s marriage proposal failed for two reasons: (1) he refused to give up his
Catholic faith and be converted to Protestantism, as Nelly demanded, and (2) Nelly’s
mother did not like Rizal as a son-in-law.

Nelly Boustead

 being a good protestant, wanted Rizal to espouse Protestantism before their marriage.
Rizal, being a man of firm conviction, refused.

Nelly’s Mother

 like the mother of Leonor Rivera, had no wish to entrust her daughter’s happiness to
a man who has poor in material things, a physician without a paying clientele, a
writer who earned nothing from his pen, and a reformer who was persecuted by the
friars and government officials in his own country.

El Filibusterismo Finished in Biarritz

 Rizal frustrated in romance, found consolation in writing.

 While wooing Nellie and enjoying so “many magnificent moonlight nights” with her,
he kept working on his second novel which he began to write in Calamba in 1887.

 On March 29, 1891, the eve of his departure from Biarritz to Paris, he finished the
manuscript of El Filibusterismo. Writing to Blumentritt on that date, he said:

“I have finished my book! Oh, no, I have not written in it my idea of revenge against my
enemies but only what is for the good of those who are suffering, for the rights of the
Tagalog race, though brown and may not have good features!

Surely, I will leave tomorrow for Paris, and from there I don‘t know where I am going.

To Paris and Back to Brussels

 Rizal bade farewell to the hospitable and friendly Bousteads (parents and daughters)
on March 30,1891 and proceeded to Paris by train.

 From Paris, he write to his friend, Jose Ma. Basa , in Hongkong, on April 4,
expressing his desire to go to that British colony and practice ophthalmology in order
to earn his living.

 By the middle of April, 1891, Rizal was back in Brussels, where he was happily
received by Marie and Suzanne Jacoby (his landladies) and, above all, by Petite
Suzanne (the Belgian girl who love him).

Retirement from the Propaganda Movement

 January, 1891, Rizal retired from the Propaganda Movement, or reform crusade.

 From Brussels, on May 1, 1891, he notified the Propaganda authorities in Manila to


cancel his monthly allowance and devote the money to some better cause, such as the
education of a young Filipino student in Europe.

Rizal Stopped Writing for La Solidaridad


 Simultaneous with his retirement from the Propaganda Movement, Rizal ceased
writing articles for La Solidaridad.

 M. H del Pilar himself realized the need for Rizal’s collaboration in both Propaganda
Movement and in the La Solidaridad newspaper because of the enthusiasm for the
reform crusade in Spain was declining.

 On August 7, 1891, he wrote to Rizal begging forgiveness for any resentment and
requesting him(Rizal) to resume writing for the La Solidaridad.

 In his reply to Del Pilar’s letter, Rizal wrote denying any resentment and explaining
why he stopped writing for La Solidaridad as follows;

“..If I stopped writing for La Solidaridad, it was because of several reasons: 1st, I need
time to work on my book; 2nd, I wanted other Filipinos to work also; 3rd, I considered it
very important to the party that there be unity in the work; and you are already at the top
and I also have my own ideas, it is better to leave you alone to direct the policy such as
you understand it and I do not meddle in it. This has advantages: It leaves both of us free,
and it increases your prestige, which is very necessary, inasmuch as men of prestige are
needed in our country.”

Revising the Fili for Publication

 The revision mostly completed on May 30, 1891.

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