Pepete (José Gallego Mateo)

For other bullfighters known by the same nickname, see Pepete.
José Gallego Mateo
José Gallego Mateo in 1909
Personal information
NicknamePepete
NationalitySpanish
Born19 March 1883
Seville, Spain
Died7 September 1910(1910-09-07) (aged 27)
Murcia, Spain
OccupationMatador
Years active1905–1910
Sport
SportBullfighting

José Gallego Mateo (19 March 1883 – 7 September 1910),[1][2] known as Pepete III, was a Spanish matador.

Career

The Seville-born matador José Gallego Mateo appeared on carteles taurinos [es], or promotional posters, as José Claro "Pepete," likely because his patronym Gallego seemed ill-suited for a bullfighter. (Gallego means "Galician," and there were no bullrings in Galicia at the time.)

After taking the alternativa in 1905,[3] the right-hander appeared as a bullfighter in Spain and especially in Mexico.[4] According to his contemporaries, he was brave and had a good technique, but he was seriously injured frequently—seven times throughout his five-year career as a matador.[3]

A magazine report of one of Pepete's previous injuries in 1909.
A report of one of Pepete's injuries in 1909.

On 7 September 1910, at the Murcia bullring during a mano a mano with the bullfighter Machaquito [es], the first bull of the afternoon, "Estudiante" from the Parladé [es] ranch, knocked down a picador. Pepete rushed to help the picador, but the bull sank his horn into the matador's right thigh, rupturing his femoral artery. Pepete died only a few minutes later at the bullring's infirmary.[2][3][4]

References

  1. ^ "Hilario González Delgado "Serranito" (1883 - 1908)". Los toros dan y quitan (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-11-19.
  2. ^ a b Maldonado, Antonio Hita (2002). El flamenco en la discografía antigua: la International Zonophone Company : historia y discografía flamenca (1905-1912) : un estudio para aficionados y coleccionistas (in Spanish). Universidad de Sevilla. ISBN 978-84-472-0725-1.
  3. ^ a b c Cebrián, José Antonio Ayuste (2017-03-21). Los carteles malditos y otros misterios taurinos. Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial España. ISBN 978-84-9112-876-2.
  4. ^ a b "Efemérides Taurinas del 7 de Septiembre de 2009". Suerte Matador (in Spanish). 2009-09-07. Archived from the original on 2015-06-10.