Conchita Cintrón
Encyclopedia
Concepción Cintrón Verrill, also known as Conchita Cintrón or La Diosa de Oro ('The Golden Goddess') (Antofagasta, August 9, 1922 – Lisboa, February 17, 2009), was a Chile
an torera (female bullfighter), perhaps the most famous in the history of bullfighting. In the ring Cintrón was said to display particular grace, style and bravado, a combination known as duende.
, in northern Chile. Her father, Francisco Cintrón Ramos, was a Puerto Rican–born graduate of West Point and a businessman. Her mother, Lola Kathleen Verrill, was an American. By the time she was three years old, the family had moved to Lima
, Peru, where she grew up, learned to ride, and began her career as a bullfighter.
In Lima, she rode her first pony at three, and joined the riding school of the Portuguese rejoneador
Ruy da Cámara, an immigrant to Peru, at 11. Cámara also became her bullfighting teacher. She trained originally as a rejoneadora, a bullfighter from horseback. This is the form of bullfighting practiced in Portugal.
, also in Lima. This event established her as a professional rejoneadora, a rare (but not unprecedented) honor for a woman. After a trip to Portugal, she was invited to perform in Mexico. She made her Mexico City debut at the Plaza del Toreo on August 20, 1938. She failed to kill her bull, but nevertheless was a great hit with the crowd and the taurine critics. She was reported to have "caused pandemonium in the stands".
She was gored in 1940 in Mexico City, by the bull Chiclanero. She fainted and was taken to the infirmary, but refused surgery and returned to the ring. There with one quick thrust she dispatched the bull and collapsed.
From her Mexico City debut in 1938 through the 1940s, she was a big draw on the bullfighting circuit, in Mexico, Portugal, southern France, Venezuela and Colombia. She even fought once in the United States, near San Francisco, in a corrida in which the bull was not allowed to be killed.
on April 23, 1945.
The Spanish prohibition against women matadors was said to be motivated more by the possibility they would have to be partially uncovered before the crowd in the event of a cornada (goring) than as a precaution for their safety. (This was during the government of Francisco Franco
.)
She intended the final corrida of the 1949 season, in Jaén
, Spain, to be the last of her career. She appeared in the ring together with the matadors Manolo Vázquez and Antonio Ordóñez
. After performing on horseback with the bull, Cintrón rode to the box of the presidente and asked for permission to dismount for the kill. Permission was denied. This was her signal to leave the arena, and leave the killing of the bull to the novillero assigned to her for that task. Instead, she dismounted, grabbed his sword and muleta
, caped the bull and prepared it for the kill. She actually went in for the kill and then dramatically let the sword drop to the sand. The bull charged. Cintrón stepped from his path and simulated the kill by touching his shoulders with her fingers as he rushed by. Pandemonium erupted in the stands and the audience threw hats and red carnations at her feet. The novillero then entered the ring and performed the kill, as originally planned.
Cintrón walked calmly away from the bull and was arrested as she left the ring, for violating the law banning women from fighting on foot. With the audience on the verge of rioting in protest of her arrest, the regional governor pardoned her and she was released. It was one of the most dramatic moments in bullfighting history. As Orson Welles
wrote in the introduction to her memoirs, her career "ended in a single burst of glorious criminality. You can't keep a lady waiting forever, and there came an afternoon when she decided that she'd waited long enough."
She did fight again. Her final fight in Spain was on October 18, 1950. Following her retirement at age 27, Cintrón married Francisco de Castelo Branco, a Portuguese nobleman, a nephew of her teacher, Ruy da Cámara, and settled in Portugal, acquiring Portuguese nationality. During her career she killed more than 750 bulls.
, Conchita dedicated herself to writing her memoirs, to journalism - being the Portuguese correspondente of several latin american news papers and the breeding of dogs primarily Portuguese Pointer
s with great success.
In the early sixties the success of Quinta do Índio dogs catch the eye of Vasco Bensaúde, bussinesman, shipowner and dog breeder that 30 years before had started in his algarbiorum kennel to save the Portuguese Water Dog
from extintion. Not having heirs interested in the kennel, Bensaúde bequeathed it to Conchita Cintrón in 1967. Having registered the kannel with the name Al-Gharb. Conchita, taking advantage of their extensive contacts in the North American high-society publicize the race in the US with great success.
In 1975 and as consequence of the 25th of April Revolution
, Quinta do Índio was occupied by workers and radical leftist supporters that drove the family. Of the 32 existing water dogs only 15 were rescued 6 months later but in such a bad condition that all had to be slaughtered.
With the occupation of the Property, Conchita Cintrón and family left Portugal and went into exile in Mexico until the end of the eighties.
Cintrón died on February 17, 2009 from cardiac arrest in Lisbon
, Portugal
. She was buried in Trajouce, near Lisbon.
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an torera (female bullfighter), perhaps the most famous in the history of bullfighting. In the ring Cintrón was said to display particular grace, style and bravado, a combination known as duende.
Background
Cintrón was born in 1922 in AntofagastaAntofagasta
Antofagasta is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2002 census, the city has a population of 296,905...
, in northern Chile. Her father, Francisco Cintrón Ramos, was a Puerto Rican–born graduate of West Point and a businessman. Her mother, Lola Kathleen Verrill, was an American. By the time she was three years old, the family had moved to Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
, Peru, where she grew up, learned to ride, and began her career as a bullfighter.
In Lima, she rode her first pony at three, and joined the riding school of the Portuguese rejoneador
Rejoneador
Rejoneador is the name given to a bullfighter who fights the bull on horseback. The rejoneador shouldn't be confused with the picador, who is just an assistant of the matador...
Ruy da Cámara, an immigrant to Peru, at 11. Cámara also became her bullfighting teacher. She trained originally as a rejoneadora, a bullfighter from horseback. This is the form of bullfighting practiced in Portugal.
Her career outside of Spain
She first fought in public in the Plaza de Acho, in Lima, in January 1936. On July 31, 1938 she made her debut as a novilleraNovillero
Novillero is a Canadian indie pop band formed in 1999 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Their musical style has been dubbed "mod-pop".Novillero formed in 1999 out of the ashes of Winnipeg lounge pop darlings Transonic, picking up Rod Slaughter , Dave Berthiaume , and Rusty Matyas along the way...
, also in Lima. This event established her as a professional rejoneadora, a rare (but not unprecedented) honor for a woman. After a trip to Portugal, she was invited to perform in Mexico. She made her Mexico City debut at the Plaza del Toreo on August 20, 1938. She failed to kill her bull, but nevertheless was a great hit with the crowd and the taurine critics. She was reported to have "caused pandemonium in the stands".
She was gored in 1940 in Mexico City, by the bull Chiclanero. She fainted and was taken to the infirmary, but refused surgery and returned to the ring. There with one quick thrust she dispatched the bull and collapsed.
From her Mexico City debut in 1938 through the 1940s, she was a big draw on the bullfighting circuit, in Mexico, Portugal, southern France, Venezuela and Colombia. She even fought once in the United States, near San Francisco, in a corrida in which the bull was not allowed to be killed.
Her career in Spain
She also fought in Spain, but there were laws there intended to ban female bullfighters. The laws, however, specified only the Spanish form of bullfighting, in which the bull is killed from on foot, not from horseback. Thus it was legal for her to fight there as a rejoneadora, but not as a matadora. (In other countries she did fight as a matadora.) Her popularity in Spain was also great, and eventually officials there found ways around the laws; she did sometimes fight on foot at charity events not open to the public. Her official presentation in Spain was in SevilleSeville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
on April 23, 1945.
The Spanish prohibition against women matadors was said to be motivated more by the possibility they would have to be partially uncovered before the crowd in the event of a cornada (goring) than as a precaution for their safety. (This was during the government of Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
.)
She intended the final corrida of the 1949 season, in Jaén
Jaén, Spain
Jaén is a city in south-central Spain, the name is derived from the Arabic word Jayyan, . It is the capital of the province of Jaén. It is located in the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, Spain, to be the last of her career. She appeared in the ring together with the matadors Manolo Vázquez and Antonio Ordóñez
Antonio Ordóñez
Antonio Ordóñez Araujo was a famous Spanish bullfighter.-Bullfighting career:Ordóñez was born Antonio Ordóñez Araujo in Ronda, Spain. He was one of the top bullfighters of his time. As a matador, Ordoñez came face to face with over 3000 bulls...
. After performing on horseback with the bull, Cintrón rode to the box of the presidente and asked for permission to dismount for the kill. Permission was denied. This was her signal to leave the arena, and leave the killing of the bull to the novillero assigned to her for that task. Instead, she dismounted, grabbed his sword and muleta
Muleta
Muleta is the name of the stick that the red cloth hangs from in the final third of a bullfight. It is different from the cape used by the matador earlier in the fight ....
, caped the bull and prepared it for the kill. She actually went in for the kill and then dramatically let the sword drop to the sand. The bull charged. Cintrón stepped from his path and simulated the kill by touching his shoulders with her fingers as he rushed by. Pandemonium erupted in the stands and the audience threw hats and red carnations at her feet. The novillero then entered the ring and performed the kill, as originally planned.
Cintrón walked calmly away from the bull and was arrested as she left the ring, for violating the law banning women from fighting on foot. With the audience on the verge of rioting in protest of her arrest, the regional governor pardoned her and she was released. It was one of the most dramatic moments in bullfighting history. As 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...
wrote in the introduction to her memoirs, her career "ended in a single burst of glorious criminality. You can't keep a lady waiting forever, and there came an afternoon when she decided that she'd waited long enough."
She did fight again. Her final fight in Spain was on October 18, 1950. Following her retirement at age 27, Cintrón married Francisco de Castelo Branco, a Portuguese nobleman, a nephew of her teacher, Ruy da Cámara, and settled in Portugal, acquiring Portuguese nationality. During her career she killed more than 750 bulls.
Dog Breeder
In Portugal at Quinta do Índio, near SetúbalSetúbal
Setúbal is the main city in Setúbal Municipality in Portugal with a total area of 172.0 km² and a total population of 118,696 inhabitants in the municipality. The city proper has 89,303 inhabitants....
, Conchita dedicated herself to writing her memoirs, to journalism - being the Portuguese correspondente of several latin american news papers and the breeding of dogs primarily Portuguese Pointer
Portuguese Pointer
A Portuguese Pointer, is a breed of dog developed as a gun dog. It is one of several pointing breeds and is mainly used in Red-legged Partridge hunting....
s with great success.
In the early sixties the success of Quinta do Índio dogs catch the eye of Vasco Bensaúde, bussinesman, shipowner and dog breeder that 30 years before had started in his algarbiorum kennel to save the Portuguese Water Dog
Portuguese Water Dog
The Portuguese Water Dog is a breed of working dog as classified by the American Kennel Club. Portuguese Water Dogs are originally from the Portuguese region of the Algarve, from where the breed expanded to all around Portugal's coast, where they were taught to herd fish into fishermen's nets, to...
from extintion. Not having heirs interested in the kennel, Bensaúde bequeathed it to Conchita Cintrón in 1967. Having registered the kannel with the name Al-Gharb. Conchita, taking advantage of their extensive contacts in the North American high-society publicize the race in the US with great success.
In 1975 and as consequence of the 25th of April Revolution
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
, Quinta do Índio was occupied by workers and radical leftist supporters that drove the family. Of the 32 existing water dogs only 15 were rescued 6 months later but in such a bad condition that all had to be slaughtered.
With the occupation of the Property, Conchita Cintrón and family left Portugal and went into exile in Mexico until the end of the eighties.
Cintrón died on February 17, 2009 from cardiac arrest in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. She was buried in Trajouce, near Lisbon.
Quotes
- "Her record stands as a rebuke to every man of us who has ever maintained that a woman must lose something of her femininity if she seeks to compete with men." —Orson Welles.
External links
- Conchita Cintrón (obituary), The EconomistThe EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, Mar 5th 2009 A biography, by Raúl Aramburu Tizón - Another biography, from Women of Action TV Some biographical notes, by Julio Domínguez Details of her performances, by Ignacio de Cossío