Juan Belmonte

Joselito and Juan Belmonte

Belmonte (1925)

Juan Belmonte García (born April 14, 1892 in Seville , † April 8, 1962 in Utrera ) was a Spanish bullfighter who is often referred to as the best torero of all time.

Life

Belmonte began his bullfighting career in 1908, when he and a group of bullfighters called Los Niños sevillanos by Spain toured. He killed his first bull on July 24, 1910 . Due to his slightly deformed legs, Belmonte developed a new technique as an adult that ultimately set him apart from all his predecessors and colleagues: he worked in an upright, almost motionless position and dangerously close to the bull. As a result, he sustained 24 serious injuries in the course of his career, but also became one of the most important bullfighters of his time. With his great rival Joselito , Belmonte had a lasting impact on bullfighting from 1914 to 1920, which is why this era is now also known as the golden age of bullfighting . In 1919, Belmonte fought 109 bullfights, a record that was only broken in 1965 by El Cordobés with 111 bullfights within one season. After Joselito's death, Belmonte became the sole leader in his profession. The associated hardships led to the first of his three resignations in 1922. In 1924, Belmonte returned to the bullring . On January 5, 1925, he graced the front page of Time Magazine . Shortly before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War , Belmonte finally ended his career as a torero in 1935, in the course of which he killed almost 1,650 bulls. He bought a ranch in Andalusia and worked as a bull breeder . In 1937 he published his autobiography with the help of the ghostwriter Manuel Chaves Nogales under the title "Juan Belmonte, matador de toros: su vida y sus hazañas" . In later years Belmonte suffered from serious heart disease. When he also got lung cancer , shortly before his 70th birthday in 1962, he committed suicide with a pistol .

Others

• Belmonte was a friend of the American writer Ernest Hemingway , who a few months before him also took his own life with a gun. Belmonte appears in two of Hemingway's works, Fiesta (1926) and Death in the Afternoon (1932).
• In 1995, Belmonte's life was filmed under the title Belmonte with Lautaro Murúa in the lead role.
• The Spanish singer Rocío Jurado dedicated the song Ay! To Belmonte in 1998 . Soledad .
• In Woody Allen's 2011 feature film Midnight in Paris , Belmonte was played by actor Daniel Lundh .

literature

• Manuel Chaves Nogales: Juan Belmonte, matador de toros: su vida y sus hazañas . Alianza Editorial, 2006; ISBN 84-206-5580-5 (Spanish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} The One Who Lived In: Sports Illustrated , August 15, 1955 (English).
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} What The Horns Couldn't Do In: Sports Illustrated , April 23, 1962 (English).
3. ↑ Death of a Matador In: Time Magazine , April 20, 1962 (English).
4. ↑ Died: Juan Belmonte y Garcia In: Der Spiegel , April 18, 1962