— died May 8, 1988 in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

), was a Spanish

Spanish people

The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

 matador

Matador

A torero or toureiro is a bullfighter and the main performer in bullfighting, practised in Spain, Colombia, Portugal, Mexico, France and various other countries influenced by Spanish culture. In Spanish, the word torero describes any of the performers who actively participate in the bullfight...

.

Born Domingo López Ortega he was the son of a humble farmer and helped with the farm work. During the months when there was no work at the farm he would travel to other towns selling garlic.

Career

In the summer of 1928 he went to a "novillada" (a bullfight of young bulls) but the sole bullfighter was injured by the bull and no one knew what to do. Domingo Ortega jumped into the ring, asked for the tools, gave several passes and killed the bull. This incident opened a new career opportunity for Domingo Ortega. He had only performed in six novilladas when in 1931 he received the "alternativa" (graduation from novillero to full matador de toros) from Gitanillo de Triana in Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

. The same year he confirmed the "alternativa" from Nicanor Villalta in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

. In the following years he performed in a great number of bullfights until his first retirement in 1950. He reappeared briefly in 1953 and retired for good the same year.
He is quoted as saying that to the three canonical maxims of bullfighting, "parar, templar y mandar", "to stop, to moderate, to command" a fourth should be added: "to load", meaning that the bullfighter should put his weight on the foot forward which puts him closer to the bull.

He said that a bullfighter caught by the bull is always due to a mistake on the part of the bullfighter. "In bullfighting either the bullfighter or the bull is in command

Critical Response

Most sources today give him high praise but Ernest Hemmingway in Death in the Afternoon

Death in the Afternoon

Death in the Afternoon is a non-fiction book by Ernest Hemingway about the ceremony and traditions of Spanish bullfighting. It was originally published in 1932. The book provides a look at the history and what Hemingway considers the magnificence of bullfighting...

 says he was "skillfully built up (...) with an elaborate press campaign and ballyhoo" and "he was lousy".

External links

• Biography in Spanish. Accessed 2010-12-15.
• El País, article 1985-12-23. Accessed 2010-12-15.