Jose Rizal, a Philippine national hero, was born on 19 June 1861. He was a doctor, poet, writer, educator, linguist, and inventor. He authored the novels Noli Me Tangere (1887) and El Filibusterismo (1891), which bared the colonial oppression of the Filipinos. He advocated nonviolent struggle for freedom but was charged with inciting dissent. The living soul of the 1896 Philippine revolution, he was executed on 30 December 1896. His martyrdom inspired a sense of nationhood that eventually led to the proclamation of Philippine independence in 1898.