Domingo Ortega (February 25, 1906 – May 8, 1988) was a Spanish

matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

. Conrad 1961, p.173 Born Domingo López Ortega in

Borox Borox is a municipality located in the Toledo (province), province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2006 census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain), INE), the municipality had a population of 2640 inhabitants. Referen ...

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

, he was the son of a farmer, and grew up helping with farm work. During months when there was no work on the farm, he would travel to other towns selling

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

.Biography in Spanish.
Accessed 2010-12-15.

Career

In the summer of 1928, he went to a ''novillada'', a bullfight of young bulls. During the fight, a bull injured the sole bullfighter present. Sensing an opportunity, Ortega jumped into the ring, asked for the bullfighter's tools, gave several passes, and killed the bull. The incident proved to be the start of a new career for him. In 1931, he had only performed in six ''novilladas'' when he received the ''alternativa'' — graduation from ''novillero'' to full ''matador de toros'' — from Gitanillo de Triana in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. The same year, his ''alternativa'' was confirmed by Nicanor Villalta in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. He subsequently performed in many bullfights before

retiring Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

in 1950. He briefly came out of retirement for a period in 1953.El País, article 1985-12-23
Accessed 2010-12-15. He is quoted as saying that the three canonical maxims of bullfighting, ''parar, templar y mandar'' ("to stop, to moderate, to command"), should be supplemented with a fourth: "to load," meaning the bullfighter should put his weight on his forward foot to put him closer to the bull. He said that a bullfighter being caught by the bull was always due to a mistake on the part of the bullfighter: "In bullfighting either the bullfighter or the bull is in command."

Legacy

While most modern sources praise Ortega highly,

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

expressed a low opinion of him in ''

Death in the Afternoon ''Death in the Afternoon'' is a non-fiction book written by Ernest Hemingway about the ceremony and traditions of Spanish bullfighting, published in 1932. The book provides a look at the history and the Spanish traditions of bullfighting. It al ...

'', describing him as "skillfully built up... with an elaborate press campaign and ballyhoo," and stating, "He was lousy". However

Laura Riding Laura Riding Jackson (born Laura Reichenthal; January 16, 1901 – September 2, 1991), best known as Laura Riding, was an American poet, critic, novelist, essayist and short story writer. Early life She was born in New York City to Nathan ...

refuted Hemingway's view strongly in her essay 'The Bull-Fight', calling Ortega "the critical modernist among contemporary bull-fighters" and saying "There are few books that have given me such a sense of learned simplicity as Ortega's work".Laura Riding, "The BullFight", Epilogue II (1936).

References

Bibliography

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External links

Biography in Spanish''El País'' article, December 12, 1985
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ortega, Domingo 1906 births 1988 deaths People from the Province of Toledo Spanish bullfighters