Don Telesforo Antonio Chuidian

The model in Dr. Jose Rizal's Kapitan Tiago in Noli Me Tangere, was born on January 5, 1855 in Binondo. His was father Jose Antonio Chuidian, a successful merchant who originally came from Amoy (present day Xiamen) founded the company La Puerta del Sol located on Escolta Street in Binondo.

Telesforo Antonio inherited the family business in his teens upon his father's untimely demise. He quit his schooling at the Ateneo de Manila to devote his energy full-time to business, setting up with Manuel Buenaventura the partnership Chuidian Buenaventura y Cia. 

The venture did a roaring trade, providing cash loans for coffee traders in Lipa and sugar businessmen in the rest of Batangas. Chuidian would become so successful he would acquire several haciendas as well as numerous properties in Manila.

Even in the 19th century, the Filipino Chinese were a formidable force. Presiding over vast fortunes built on property and enterprise, they controlled entire industries and various crops. Their children would continue to be not only immensely talented in business but also well-educated, highly cultivated personages, and collectors of the finest art and books.

Chuidian, at one time, even asked his partner Buenaventura, a lawyer, to represent the embattled Rizal family in their land dispute with the friars. A son-in-law, General Jose Alejandrino, would recount that Telesforo was indeed the model for Kapitan Tiago, whose fabulous home was immortalized in the first chapter of José Rizal's novel, "Noli Me Tángere."

With the outbreak of the Philippine-American War, Chuidian was targeted and imprisoned in Fort Santiago in a dungeon so dismal that water would be up to his neck during high tide. As a result, he contracted tuberculosis which eventually led to his death in 1903, which was years after his release. Family legend has it that he paid for his freedom with a bribe of a bayong (tall basket) filled with magnificent jewels.

Source: The Kahimyang Project