Miguel Báez Espuny
[2] Báez's father, Miguel Báez Quintero "El Litri", a matador who enjoyed a certain level of fame in Huelva, had faith in his son Manuel's future, as his skill with the sword put him among the most promising young bullfighters at that time, but then, on 11 February 1926, Manuel was gored by a bull named Extremeño during a bullfight in Málaga, and died of his wounds in hospital a week later.
[3] By this time, the elder Miguel Báez was a widower, for his first wife had died, and, now crushed by his only son's death, he fell into a deep depression.
It was then that he met and got to know one of his late son's young admirers, Ángela Espuny Lozar, who had been born in Tavernes de la Valldigna in the Valencian Community, although she now lived in Gandia.
While on his deathbed in 1932, the elder Miguel made his wife promise to see to it that their young son would not follow in his forebears' footsteps into the world of bullfighting.
His career in this profession began on 17 August 1947 in Valverde del Camino in the Province of Huelva,[1] where he shared the billing with José Utrera "Costillares" and Juan Barranco Posada,[5] and at which bullfights the bulls were supplied by Gerardo Ortega.
[7] Such was the passion that Báez's fellow countrymen showed him in the way they received him in the city, in the events organized by the Tertulia Litri, which was headquartered in the city's central San Sebastián neighbourhood, when Pepe Ramos would launch his rockets to celebrate the bullfighter's successes, wherever Báez had been fighting bulls, and in other ways, that the Huelva maestro Félix Trujillo wrote a pasodoble in his honour, the Pasodoble del Litri, with lyrics by Domingo Manfredi and Alejandro Wilke.
[5] When the Huelva municipality Ayamonte's bullring was approaching its centenary, the complex was remodelled and its newly transformed version was inaugurated on 9 July 1950, with "El Litri", Julio Aparicio Martínez and Pepe Gallardo on the bill, then a very popular lineup; bulls were supplied by Fermín Bohórquez Escribano, famous as a rejoneador in his time, as well as for breeding fighting bulls.
[12] On 18 May 1950, Báez had one of his greatest professional triumphs, coming out through the Great Gate at Las Ventas in Madrid after fighting the yearling bull Alpargatero from Manuel González's ranch.
[14][15] Báez's presentation as a matador came in Seville on 17 April 1951,[1] when he shared billing with Manuel González Cabello and Julio Aparicio, with bulls supplied by Carlos Núñez; "Litri" cut two ears[6] and was borne shoulder-high out through the Prince's Gate (Puerta del Príncipe).
Báez's confirmation came on 17 May 1951; the "godfather" this time was Pepe Luis Vázquez Garcés,[1] and the witness was Antonio Bienvenida; the bulls came from the Bohórquez ranch, and "Litri" cut one ear at this corrida.
[6] In 1965, before a great crowd, an act of homage was celebrated at Huelva's Plaza de Toros de La Merced at which Báez received the Great Cross of Beneficence (Order of Beneficence) from the then Mayor of Huelva, Manuel López Rebollo, before Fermín Bohórquez Escribano, Julio Aparicio and Diego Puerta.
[23] Throughout Báez's long life, he received no end of homages and recognition from Huelva's and the surrounding province's bullfighting aficionados,[24] also being named in 2010 Adoptive Son of the municipality of Punta Umbría.
