Francisco de Asís Rivera Ordóñez (prev. The Duke of Montoro; born 3 January 1974 in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

) is a Spanish ''

torero 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 activity ...

'' or 'bullfighter'.

Family lineage

Rivera comes from a long line of famous bullfighters: his great-grandfather was

Cayetano Ordóñez Cayetano Ordóñez y Aguilera (January 24, 1904, Ronda, Spain - October 30, 1961, Madrid, Spain) is the patriarch of the Ordóñez family of bullfighters. His parents owned a shoeshop called ''La Palma'', which gave him his nickname (Niño de ...

, ''El Nino de la Palma''; his grandfather was

Antonio Ordóñez Antonio Ordóñez Araujo (16 February 1932 – 19 December 1998) was a Spanish bullfighter. Early life Antonio Jiménez Ordóñez Araujo was born in Ronda, Spain, on 16 February 1932. His father was Cayetano Ordóñez, called ''Niño de la Pal ...

; his great-uncle was Luis Miguel Dominguín; his father was Francisco Rivera

Paquirri Francisco Rivera Pérez, known as Paquirri (March 5, 1948 – September 26, 1984), was a Spanish bullfighter. Death Paquirri was gored by a bull named "Avispado" (Spanish for street-smart, or wasp-like) during a bullfight in Pozoblanco ( Cór ...

; his brother is

Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez Antonio Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez (born January 13, 1977 in Madrid, Spain) is a Spanish ''torero'' or 'bullfighter'. Family ties Rivera is the son of Francisco Rivera 'Paquirri' and Carmen Ordóñez. He belongs to a long line of famous bullfigh ...

; his cousin is Jose Antonio Canales Rivera.

Bullfighting career

In 2009, he was awarded the Fine Arts medal by the Culture Ministry of Spain, a coveted bullfighting prize, but his receipt resulted in a public outcry.

Personal life

He is the son of

(Francisco Rivera) and Carmen Ordóñez, and his brother is the matador

. His father’s second wife was

Isabel Pantoja María Isabel Pantoja Martín (; born August 2, 1956) is a Spanish singer. She was born in the Triana district of Seville, Spain. She has released more than a dozen albums throughout a career spanning many decades, mostly of '' copla'' genre, ...

, with whom Francisco has a half brother, Francisco Jose Rivera Pantoja. He has one daughter, Cayetana Rivera y Martínez de Irujo (born October 16, 1999), from his marriage to Eugenia Martínez de Irujo, 12th Duchess of Montoro, on October 23, 1998. The couple divorced in 2002. Eugenia's mother was the Duchess of Alba,

Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart María del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva, 18th Duchess of Alba GE (28 March 1926 – 20 November 2014) was one of the most senior aristocrats in Spain, as well as the most titled aristocrat in the world, a distinction now held by ...

, who was the most titled noble in the world. In 2011, Francisco Rivera started dating Lourdes Beatriz Montes Parejo, then a 27-year-old lawyer from Sevilla. They married on September 14, 2013 in

Ronda Ronda () is a town in the Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about west of the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is about 35,000. Ronda is known for its cliff-side location and a deep chasm ...

. They have a daughter, named Carmen (born August 19, 2015).

Books

Rivera Ordóñez, who is known in the press as "Fran", was the subject of the book ''Death and the Sun: A Matador's Season in the Heart of Spain'' by American journalist Edward Lewine. In 2012 he was again involved in a book, ''The Bull and The Ban'' by filmmaker Catherine Tosko and British bullfighter and writer

Alexander Fiske-Harrison Alexander Rupert Fiske-Harrison (born 22 July 1976) is an English author, producer, financier and conservationist. His writing is known for his immersion in his subject matter. He trained and worked for some years as a Method actor. For his fi ...

.''The Bull and The Ban''
- Mitaurored

References

External links