Michelito Lagravere
Encyclopedia
Michel Lagravere Peniche (born December 1997 in Mérida
, Yucatán
), better known as Michelito, is a French Mexican
child bullfighter.
The son of French
-born former matador
Michel Lagravere and Mexican
Diana Peniche Marenco, Michelito claims to have started bullfighting at the age of five, and credits his love for the sport to being surrounded by bullfighters from an early age. His father runs a bullfighting academy in Mexico and his mother operates a string of bullrings in the Yucatán region. Being in close proximity to bullfighting from an early age helped him grow into the sport. However, not everyone in the Michelito household wanted him to become a bullfighter. His grandmother showed him gruesome bullfights on television in order to deter him from the sport when he was just four, but by then he had already joined his father's academy.
Since he first started bullfighting, he is credited to have fought 56 bulls weighing up to 500 lbs. He has been plying his trade mostly in Mexico and other Latin America
n countries due to the age restrictions which prevent him from fighting in Spain
and also because a child bullfighter in Latin countries can earn around a hundred thousand dollars a year. The minimum age for bullfighters in Spain is 16 years.
Michelito was embroiled in a controversy recently for fighting six young bulls in a single fight in the bullring of Mérida
, Mexico in a bid to get his name in the Guinness Book of World Records (24 Jan 2009). Animal right activists and child protection groups in the region had objected to such an event but a local judge ruled in its favor after reviewing licenses submitted by Michelito's father. Michelito, who was eleven at the time, fought six calves aged from one to two years old. However, the Guinness World Records
said that it was not aware of such an event taking place and as such did not recognize the result. They also made it clear that the organization was against records based on killing or harming of animals.
He has also been banned from performing in many French towns after protests by the Anti-Corrida Alliance, who has been campaigning to ban children from the ring in France. They have actively targeted Michelito, who they think, always seeks to end a fight with a kill unlike other child toreros.
Mérida, Yucatán
Mérida is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Yucatán and the Yucatán Peninsula. It is located in the northwest part of the state, about from the Gulf of Mexico coast...
, Yucatán
Yucatán
Yucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....
), better known as Michelito, is a French Mexican
French Mexican
A French Mexican is a Mexican citizen of full or partial French ancestry. Mexicans of French descent make up the second largest European descended group in Mexico, after the Spanish....
child bullfighter.
The son of French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-born former matador
Matador
A torero or toureiro is a bullfighter and the main performer in bullfighting, practised in Spain, Colombia, Portugal, Mexico, France and various other countries influenced by Spanish culture. In Spanish, the word torero describes any of the performers who actively participate in the bullfight...
Michel Lagravere and Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
Diana Peniche Marenco, Michelito claims to have started bullfighting at the age of five, and credits his love for the sport to being surrounded by bullfighters from an early age. His father runs a bullfighting academy in Mexico and his mother operates a string of bullrings in the Yucatán region. Being in close proximity to bullfighting from an early age helped him grow into the sport. However, not everyone in the Michelito household wanted him to become a bullfighter. His grandmother showed him gruesome bullfights on television in order to deter him from the sport when he was just four, but by then he had already joined his father's academy.
Since he first started bullfighting, he is credited to have fought 56 bulls weighing up to 500 lbs. He has been plying his trade mostly in Mexico and other Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n countries due to the age restrictions which prevent him from fighting in 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...
and also because a child bullfighter in Latin countries can earn around a hundred thousand dollars a year. The minimum age for bullfighters in Spain is 16 years.
Michelito was embroiled in a controversy recently for fighting six young bulls in a single fight in the bullring of Mérida
Mérida, Yucatán
Mérida is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Yucatán and the Yucatán Peninsula. It is located in the northwest part of the state, about from the Gulf of Mexico coast...
, Mexico in a bid to get his name in the Guinness Book of World Records (24 Jan 2009). Animal right activists and child protection groups in the region had objected to such an event but a local judge ruled in its favor after reviewing licenses submitted by Michelito's father. Michelito, who was eleven at the time, fought six calves aged from one to two years old. However, the Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
said that it was not aware of such an event taking place and as such did not recognize the result. They also made it clear that the organization was against records based on killing or harming of animals.
He has also been banned from performing in many French towns after protests by the Anti-Corrida Alliance, who has been campaigning to ban children from the ring in France. They have actively targeted Michelito, who they think, always seeks to end a fight with a kill unlike other child toreros.
See also
- Rafita MirabalRafita MirabalRafita Mirabal from the Mexican state of Aguascalientes is believed to be the world's youngest bullfighter. He was discovered in a bullfighting school in his home state and has performed at least 24 fights from 2005 to April 2006 and several more since then. He enters the arena with only a red...
, young Mexican bullfighter. - Jorge ElichJorge ElichJorge Elich is a young Spanish lion tamer. He holds the Guinness World Record for being the youngest lion tamer in the world. His most recent documented performance was in the Circus Paris in El Ejido, near Almeria, Spain, in January 2008...
, young Spanish lion tamer.