Artemio Ricarte was born on October 20, 1866 in Batac, Ilocos Norte to
Faustino Ricarte and Bonifacia Garcia. He finished his early studies in his
hometown and enrolled at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran where he
graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. At the University of Santo Tomas and
then at the Escuela Normal, he prepared for the teaching profession. He
was sent to the town of San Francisco de Malabon (now General Trias) to
supervise a primary school. There he joined the ranks of the Katipunan and
adopted the name Vibora (viper).
On August 31, 1896, he led the revolutionists in attacking the Spanish
garrison in San Francisco de Malabon. He crushed the Spanish troops and
took the civil guards as prisoner. He was made brigadier general in Aguinaldo�s army and elected
captain general at the Tejeros Convention. He led his men in various battles in Cavite, Laguna and
Batangas. Aguinaldo designated him to remain in Biak na Bato, San Miguel, Bulakan to supervise the
surrender of arms and to see to it that the Spanish government complied with the terms of the peace
pact.
When the Filipino American war started in 1899, he was Chief of Operations of the Filipino forces in
the second zone around Manila. In July 1900 he was captured and deported to Guam together with
Apolinario Mabini.
In 1903 he was supposed to be released in Manila after they took their oath of allegiance to the
Americans. Mabini, who was ill, took the oath but Ricarte refused. He was deported once more to
Hongkong. He secretly sailed to the Philippines in 1903 hoping to reunite and rekindle the Philippine
Revolution but he was denounced for a sum of $10,000, the reward offered by the American
government for his capture dead or alive. He was arrested and jailed until 1910. He still refused to
swear allegiance to the US and on the same day, he was once more deported to Hongkong. He and
his wife later moved to Yokohama, Japan where they lived in self exile. The family lived in obscurity
until the start of World War II when the Japanese flew him back to the Philippines to help them pacify
the Filipinos.
He died on July 31, 1945 at Kalinga, Mountain Province.