Lesser Known Facts About Andres Bonifacio
He did not come from a poor family.
While mostly depicted as a poor peasant, Andres Bonifacio came from a middle-class family. Bonifacio’s parents both have stable jobs, with his mother, Catalina de Castro, is a Spanish-Mestiza and a supervisor in a cigarette factory, and his father Santiago Bonifacio works directly under the gobernadorcillo.
However, Bonifacio was orphaned at 14, forcing him to support his five siblings and discontinue his formal education.
In his only surviving photo, Bonifacio was wearing a coat and tie in contrast to the barefoot camisa-wearing depictions he was often represented.
He was a well-read man.
Despite quitting his studies, Bonifacio remained hungry for knowledge, thus becoming a voracious reader. Among the titles he read were: Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo; books about the French Revolution as well as the biographies of the president of the United States of America; and lastly, novels such as “Les Miserables” and the “Le Juif errant.”
He was married twice but had no surviving children.
His first wife, Monica from the neighborhood of Palomar in Bacoor, died of leprosy. He then married Gregoria de Jesus of Caloocan in 1893.
De Jesus and Bonifacio’s son, Andres Jr. died in infancy due to smallpox in 1896.
His weapon of choice is not a bolo.
Most commemorative statues or paintings of Bonifacio showcase him as a fierce warrior wielding a bolo. However, sources have confirmed that his preferred weapon was a revolver. He was said to have owned two distinct guns – a homemade de palito and a factory-manufactured gun from the firm of Adolfo Richter.
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