José Rizal was a prolific writer from a young age, writing plays, poems, and other works. He contributed essays and editorials to the Spanish newspaper La Solidaridad under a pen name. Rizal is renowned for his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, which centered on ideas of individual rights and freedom for the Filipino people. He was a leader in the Propaganda Movement, contributing numerous articles and being recognized as its great novelist due to the impact of his writings on developing a Filipino national consciousness.