Eugène Fromentin (1820-1876), “Le simoun”
Ever wondered why Jose Rizal chose such an unusual alias for Juan Crisostomo Ibarra in El filibusterismo? This French painting gives us a clue. Simoun is not one of the three men in burnouses. Simoun is the powerful desert wind these men are faced with. The word “simoun” is French and derived from the Arabic word meaning “poisonous wind.” I explore the meaning and significance of Rizal’s choice of Simoun as Ibarra’s nom de guerre in my essay “Did Padre Damaso Rape Maria Clara?: Reticence, Revelation, and Revolution in Jose Rizal’s Novels,” Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints 65.2 (2017): 137-99.
ikangablog 