Nimeño II

Statue of Nimeño II at the arena of Nîmes.

Christian Montcouquiol ("Nimeño II") (born in Speyer, Germany, 10 March 1954, died in Caveirac, France, 25 November 1991) was a French matador.

Biography

Christian Montcouquiol was the brother of Alain Montcouquiol, a bullfighter known as "Nimeño I". From 1975 to 1982, Christian appeared in arenas in Spain, France, and Latin America under the direction of Spanish promoter Manolo Chopera. In 1982, Christian separated from Chopera and turned to his brother Alain for management.

On 14 May 1989 in Nîmes, Nimeño II and Portuguese torero Victor Mendes were scheduled to fight six bulls. Mendes was injured early in the match, and Nimeño II won renown for killing the six bulls single-handedly.

Death

On 10 September 1989 in Arles, Nimeño II was hurled into the air by a bull named Pañolero. He landed on his head, fracturing his cervical vertebrae and suffering tetraplegia. After months of rehabilitation, Nimeño regained the use of his legs and right arm, but his left arm remained paralysed. On 25 November 1991, Nimeño II committed suicide by hanging in his garage.

Honors

The bullfighting arenas of Eauze and Caveirac are named for Nimeño II. There are commemorative plaques to Nimeño II in the arenas of Arles, Mont-de-Marsan, and Béziers in France, and Aguascalientes in Mexico. At the arena in Nîmes, a statue of Nimeño II was erected, and the annual "Trophy Nimeño II" is awarded there to the leading novillero without picadors.

Statue of Nimeño II at the arena of Nîmes.

The street in front of the Béziers arena is named "Plaza Nimeño II".

Career highlights

• Public debut, 30 March 1967, in Tarascon, France
• First novillada (novice bullfight with yearling bulls) without picadors, 19 July 1969, Saint-Gilles (France), yearling bulls from André Pourquier
• First novillada with picadors, 28 May 1972, Lunel (France); the beginning of his public career, after which he never appeared without picadors.
• 17 May 1975 in Nîmes (France), yearling bulls from Matías Bernardos.
• First appearance in Spain, 17 August 1975, in Santiestéban (Jaén); yearling bulls from Germán Gervás.
• Alternativa in Nìmes, 28 May 1977. Godfather, Ángel Teruel; witness, Manzaneres; bulls from Torestrella.
• First appearance as a matador in Spain, 30 May 1977, in Barcelona; bulls from Matías Bernardos.
• Confirmed his alternativa in Mexico, 28 January 1979, godfather, Manolo Martines, witness, Dámaso González; bulls from Tequisquiapan.
• Confirmed his alternativa in Madrid, 21 May 1979, godfather, Rafael de Paula; witness, Ángel Teruel; bulls from Luis Algarra

References

Alain Montcouquiol, Recouvre-le de lumière (1998), ISBN 2-86432-266-8 (French)

External links

• Toros magazine profile, Sept. 1999 (French)
• Portaltaurino.com profile (Spanish)^[usurped]