Antonio Ordóñez
Encyclopedia
Antonio Ordóñez Araujo (February 16, 1932 - December 19, 1998) was a famous Spanish
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...

 bullfighter.

Bullfighting career

Ordóñez was born Antonio Ordóñez Araujo in Ronda
Ronda
Ronda is a city in Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about West from the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is approximately 35,000 inhabitants.-History:...

, 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...

. He was one of the top bullfighters of his time. As a matador, Ordoñez came face to face with over 3000 bulls. He finally retired in 1968, having fought over 60 bullfights in that year alone, but came back until finally retiring in 1988. He was honored with a monument at the gates of the La Malagueta bullring in Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...

 and his ashes lie beneath the "toril" gate, opened to allow the bull to enter, in the oldest bullring in the world, in his hometown of Ronda. His family owned the arena. There is a statue of him outside the arena.

Famous friends and descendants

Ordóñez was married to Carmen Cristina González, and is the father of Carmen Ordóñez
Carmen Ordóñez
Carmina Ordóñez was a member of Spanish families with a background in bullfighting. She was the daughter, ex-wife and mother of bullfighters....

 who married the matador Paquirri
Paquirri
Francisco Rivera Pérez, known as Paquirri , was a Spanish bullfighter.- Death :Paquirri was gored by a bull named "Avispado" during a bullfight in Pozoblanco , and died while he was being transported to Córdoba Hospital.- Family :He was first married to Carmen Ordóñez, with whom he had two...

 who was killed by a bull in 1985. His grandsons are bullfighters Francisco Rivera Ordóñez
Francisco Rivera Ordóñez
Francisco de Asís Rivera Ordóñez is a Spanish bullfighter.He is the son of Francisco Rivera Paquirri and Carmen Ordóñez, and his brother is the matador Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez...

 and Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez
Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez
Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez, is a Spanish matador.-Early years:Rivera is the son of Francisco Rivera 'Paquirri' and Carmen Ordóñez along with his elder brother, the matador Francisco Rivera Ordóñez...

.

Ordóñez met a number of writers and actors, and he also starred in a few films. Antonio was a long time friend with Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...

, whom he called Father Earnest. Hemingway wrote an account of Ordonez's rivalry with the matador Luis Miguel Dominguin (also Ordonez's brother in law) titled The Dangerous Summer
The Dangerous Summer
The Dangerous Summer is a book written by Ernest Hemingway published in 1985, which describes the rivalry between bullfighters Luis Miguel Dominguín and his brother-in-law Antonio Ordóñez during the "dangerous summer" of 1959...

. Ordonez also befriended Hollywood movie star Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...

, whose ashes were buried on Ordóñez's estate after Welles' death.

Ordóñez died of lung cancer
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of liver cancer. Most cases of HCC are secondary to either a viral hepatitide infection or cirrhosis .Compared to other cancers, HCC is quite a rare tumor in the United States...

 in 1998.
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