Ernesto Pastor

Ernesto Pastor (1892-1921) was the first, and so far only, Puerto Rican bullfighter (torero) to gain international fame. Some date Pastor's birth year as 1900, but it is generally accepted that he was born in 1892.

Pastor was considered by his contemporary colleagues to be talented both with the sword and the cape. On January 16, 1911, he made his public debut, at a plaza in Guadalajara, Mexico. There, he would be revered as one of the best of his era.

Pastor moved on to Spain in 1916, fighting for the first time there on May 16, in Barcelona. In Spain, he was mentored by José Gómez Ortega. In 1918, Pastor engaged in 38 bullfighting spectacles, and in 1919, he debuted in Madrid.

It was in Madrid in 1921 that Pastor met with death. During one of his spectacles, he was hit on the leg by one of the bulls. Bleeding profusely, he managed to ask who turned off the lights? before passing away. The hemorrage in his leg had caused him to go blind before dying.