Kapag itinuturo ang height ni Jose Rizal sa mga history subjects, sinasabing below five feet ang tangkad ng ating Pambansang Bayani.
May nagsasabing 4'11" ang kanyang height, habang ang iba naman ay 4'8" lang daw.
Pero matutuldukan na ang debate tungkol sa kanyang totoong height, salamat sa discovery ng Filipino historian at author na si Ambeth Ocampo.
Mismong si Rizal ang nagbunyag ng kanyang height nang isulat niya sa kanyang notebook kung gaano siya katangkad.
Ipinost ni Ocampo ang screenshot ng scan ng notebook ni Rizal na nagtataglay ng kanyang handwriting.
Isinulat ni Rizal ang kanyang taas at edad sa wikang Kastila.
Mababasa rito: “Jose Rizal de 19 años 4 dias 1 metro 61 centimetris”
Ibig sabihin isinulat ito ni Rizal noong siya ay 19 years at four days old.
Siya ay 1.61 meters tall o 5.28 feet tall. Lumalabas na halos 5’3” ang totoong height ni Rizal!
DEBATE TUNGKOL SA HEIGHT NI RIZAL
Sa kanyang Facebook post, sinabi ni Ocampo na hindi niya sinasadya ang kanyang discovery.
Bahagi ng post niya (published as is), “Well, this evening, without my looking for it the definitive proof for the 5-2 side cropped up while I was filing my scans of Rizal manuscripts.
“In one of his notebooks RIZAL HIMSELF said that at 19 years old and four days old he stood at one meter 61 centimeters. That translates to 5.28 feet or almost 5'3"!
“Oh,serendipity is one of the thrills of research!!"
Naresolba ng kanyang natuklasan ang debate ukol sa height ni Rizal.
Ani Ocampo, “There has always been a debate about Jose Rizal's height, with many people insisting, without evidence, that the hero stood at four feet eleven inches.
“This was even used in the Ayala Museum, since changed at my insistence.”
Pag-amin pa ni Ocampo, nire-reject pa noon ang mungkahi niyang sukatin ang tangkad ni Rizal sa pamamagitan ng kanyang damit.
“The 4-11 club would not buy my method of measuring Rizal's extant clothing in the National Historical Commission to estimate his height at around five feet two inches.”
Maraming naisulat na libro si Ocampo tungkol sa ating national hero, tulad ng Rizal Without the Overcoat.