About Leonor Rivera

Leonor Rivera–Kipping
(born in Camiling, Tarlac, died August 1893)
was the childhood sweetheart, first cousin, and “lover by correspondence”
of Philippine national hero José Rizal. Rivera was the “greatest influence”
in preventing Rizal from falling in love with other women while Rizal was traveling outside the Philippines.Rivera's romantic relationship with Rizal lasted for eight years.She was immortalized by Rizal as the character
"María Clara" in the Spanish-language novel Noli Me Tangere.
Her original hometown is in Camiling,Tarlac.

Rivera, a native of Pangasinan, was the daughter of Antonio Rivera. Austin Coates, Rizal’s European biographer, described Rivera in Rizal: Philippine Nationalist and Martyr as a “pretty woman” whose physical features included having a “high forehead”, “soft and wavy hair”, a face that supported “almond eyes”, “small and pensive mouth”, and “engaging dimples”. Furthermore, Rivera was a talented, mature, and intelligent lady who played the piano and was gifted with a “charming singing voice”.Rivera studied at La Concordia College in Manila.

Rivera’s family was a resident of Dagupan from 1890 to 1891, a period when the railroad line between Manila and Dagupan was being constructed. Her parents had a clothing merchandise business in Dagupan. The Riveras first lived at a dwelling on Torres Bugallon Avenue, a property belonging to Don Alejandro Venteres and Doña Rosario Laurel Villamil, a couple closely connected to the family. The family later moved to a house belonging to Don Andres Palaganas, a person related to Don Venteres by affinity. The son of Don Palaganas, Ciriaco (a former Dagupan municipal president), was the husband of Don Venteres’s relative Paula Venteres.The second residence of the Riveras was located at a place presently known as Rivera Street.

Rivera and Rizal first met in Manila when Rivera was only 13 years old. When Rizal left for Europe on May 3, 1882, Rivera was 15 years of age. From then, the relationship between Rivera and Rizal became a love by correspondence, a communication by letters with exchanges of photographs without personally seeing each other again. Such correspondence began with the poem Rizal left for Rivera saying farewell. The lovers employed codes in their letters because Rivera’s mother did not favor Rizal as a suitor for Rivera. Being in love for the first time, Rivera was greatly affected by Rizal’s departure. A letter from Mariano Catigbac dated June 27, 1884 described Rivera’s condition to Rizal as Rizal’s “betrothed” who became thin, deteriorated, and preoccupied. Rivera became frequently sick because of insomnia. When Rizal returned to the Philippines on August 5, 1887, Rivera was no longer living in Manila because she and her family had moved back to Dagupan, Pangasinan. Rizal wanted to meet Rivera and Rivera also wanted to see Rizal, but both were prohibited by their fathers. Rizal was forbidden by his father Francisco Mercado in order to avoid putting the Rivera family in danger because at the time Rizal was already labeled by the Spaniards as a filibustero or subversive. Rizal was labeled as such because of the contents of his novel Noli Me Tangere. Rizal wanted to marry Rivera while he was still in the Philippines because of Rivera’s uncomplaining fidelity. Rizal asked permission from his father one more time before his second departure from the Philippines. The meeting never happened. In 1888, Rizal stopped receiving letters from Rivera for a year, although Rizal kept sending letters to Rivera. The reason for Rivera’s year of silence was the connivance between Rivera’s mother and the Englishman named Henry Kipping, a railway engineer who fell in love with Rivera and was favored by Rivera’s mother.

Rivera met Henry Kipping, the British engineer whom she later married, at Doña Carmen Villamil’s house. Villamil was a former classmate at La Concordia College in Manila. Kipping was associated with the engineer named Crisostomo Villamil, the supervising engineer of the Manila-Dagupan railroad line project at the time.