# Who is Simoun in El Filibusterismo?

> El Filibusterismo by José Rizal

## Answer

Simoun is the novel’s central schemer: a wealthy jeweler close to the Captain-General, scornful of half-measures, and secretly the returned Crisóstomo Ibarra of Noli Me Tangere. He recruits through debt and dangling hope — including Basilio — toward a rising timed to a wedding fiesta.

Understanding Simoun means holding both identities at once: the reformer the colony broke, and the avenger who will break others. The conclusion with Padre Florentino judges the method even as it mourns the waste.

## Evidence

- [i-on-the-upper-deck](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/el_filibusterismo_se/chapters/i-on-the-upper-deck.md): Simoun appears as the enigmatic jeweler among colonial passengers.
- [vii-simoun](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/el_filibusterismo_se/chapters/vii-simoun.md): Simoun’s aims and methods are developed in a dedicated chapter.
- [xxxiii-la-ultima-raz-n](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/el_filibusterismo_se/chapters/xxxiii-la-ultima-raz-n.md): Simoun’s “last reason” presses the revolutionary logic toward crisis.

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