Czech envoy translates Rizal's poetic masterpiece
By Volt Contreras March 22, 2006

"MI Ultimo Adios" ("My Last Farewell"), the timeless poem written by national hero Jose Rizal while awaiting his execution in 1896, was unveiled Monday night at Fort Santiago's Rizal Shrine in Intramuros, in Czech.

This latest of many versions was penned by self-confessed "shy poet" and now the Czech Republic's Ambassador to the Philippines Jaroslav Ludva.

The gesture was in celebration of what historians now consider as the immortal friendship between Rizal and his Czech friend Prof. Ferdinand Blumentritt, then a school principal in the town of Litomerice, in what is now the Czech Republic.

Blumentritt (1853-1913) is credited with, among other things, convincing Rizal to overcome his doubts about publishing "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo" -- two books that would stoke the flames of the Philippine revolt against Spain.

On the eve of his death, Rizal actually wrote two pieces: "Ultimo" and a last letter to Blumentritt, his Czech "soul mate," Ludva noted.

To mark the bond between the two men-Blumentritt never came to the Philippines but corresponded with Rizal for a long time-the national hero's native town of Calamba, Laguna, and Litomerice were declared "sister cities" in 1974.

Litomerice has since built four monuments to Rizal, including a bust in City Hall, while one street in Manila has been named in honor of Blumentritt.

But while Monday's presentation was considered an official gift from the Czech government, it carried more meaning for Ludva.

"I really fell in love with Jose Rizal," the diplomat told the Inquirer. "A true ilustrado in those days, the most famous personality here and beyond this country."

Readings on Rizal

Ludva, who was assigned to Manila in September last year, said he first thought of a Czech translation of "Ultimo" in January.

Before sitting down to write, he read several books on Rizal -- including two by Czech authors-which centered on the patriot's final hours as well as his friendship with Blumentritt.

Although he translated the masterpiece from the original Spanish, he also studied the versions in English and German to further distill the hero's "message."

One weekend in late January, Ludva decided to send "my wife, my daughter and my mother-in-law to Mindoro, because I needed to be alone for 48 hours." he said.

He was home alone writing in his residence in the Forbes Park subdivision in Makati City, "and within 48 hours I did it," he said.

"Jewel of romantic poetry"

Ludva said it was "very difficult" to do justice to the poem in his mother tongue since he not only had to find the proper Czech words for Rizal's "rich Spanish vocabulary ... but I also wanted to capture his [Rizal's] good sense of rhyme in that language."

The envoy described "Ultimo" as a "jewel of romantic poetry in East Asia."

And unless one knew of Rizal's situation when he wrote it, the reader could not easily sense that these were the musings of a man hours away from the firing squad, Ludva noted.

"You can feel that he was not [sad]. He was upbeat when the hero wrote it. Rizal's message to his closest friends and family was: 'Be happy, life is nice, I will give my life to my country because I want it to prosper in the future. It is my contribution to the next generation,'" he said.

"It was a long poem but it's wonderful and I admire him for that. He was about to be executed yet still he found something deep inside his soul to give to his countrymen," Ludva added.

Place of honor

An aspiring poet in his youth, Ludva said he considered his translation of "Ultimo" as his first "published" work in verse.

"Published" was an understatement, since the Czech version was mounted-on what could be considered a place of honor: right next to the original Spanish text on a wall of the Rizal Shrine.

"I have written a lot of poems but I was too shy to publish them because I felt somebody would say it's not right. In those days, I was so devoted to writing poetry I thought it would be the end of my life if it was not accepted by the public," Ludva said.

"But now I have decided to return to my roots-and be more daring," he said. "I think what I did was not only a must for a Czech ambassador. It was more of a devotion."

From memory

On the night of the unveiling, Ludva apparently thought his two days translating the Rizal were not enough to honor the hero.

The program indicated he would give the closing remarks. But he went beyond the usual spiel and surprised everyone by reciting from memory the original Spanish version of "Ultimo."

He delivered all 14 stanzas -- each consisting of five lines -- to the applause of the gathering that included fellow diplomats, Philippine officials and educators, as well as Rizal's descendants.

Visibly moved were the Filipinos in the audience for here was a foreigner appreciating, and perhaps even surpassing them in mastering a national literary gem.

The ceremony was graced by Senate President Franklin Drilon, visiting Czech Senate President Premysl Sobotka and National Commission on Culture and the Arts chair Ambeth Ocampo.

"Mi Ultimo Adios" has been translated into 70 foreign languages and 57 dialects.

Nice! Mi Ultimo Adios is also an inspiration for all nations!

Rizal is an inspiration to the world!! comparable to gandhi though not as popular...
We should strive to popularize Rizal to the world, he is one of the philippine's greatest asset and One of the best people in asia and the world comparable to da vinci in his days!

Although both were geniuses and DaVinci more known Rizal had far more impact and influence than da vinci ever did. As an artist he he wasnt that great of an influence either later ar,t it was mostly Raphael, Michealangelo and Caravaggio.

didn't he also wrote a book on how to get 20 women at the same time?......no?...........lol

it's the most beautiful poem i've ever read.

i'm actually doing a comparative essay on nationalistic and patriotic poetry, and this poem makes up the biggest chunk of my research.

^do rizal write spanish different?, like a philippine version?

no. it's very poetic and formal though. lol.

there was one sentence that my mexican friend was a bit odd, and it was the fact that he says "la diera" instead of "la daría" which would be "i gave (my life)" as opposed to "i would give (my life)"

i personally thing he said 'i gave' b/c he already knows he's being executed.

^what dialect does he speak? mexican spanish or spanish spanish or spanglish or ham_let spanish?

ham_let spanish = gringo spanish

ham_let tagalog = coño inglés



mexican spanish, but it's basically standard spanish with a modified vocabulary. he's really good at spanish, except he sucks at accent placement. he basically just guesses >__> dude. it's not that hard. i think it's b/c it's so different from french.

^lol, he guesses? well.... he do speak 20 more languages

iunno. i just find it kinda weird b/c french accents are difficult while it's so fu-king obvious where each spanish accent goes provded you know how to pronounce the word.