Rodolfo Gaona y Jiménez (22 January 1888 – 20 May 1975), was a Mexican bullfighter who performed from 1905 until his retirement in 1925, primarily in Madrid.

[2][5] Gaona was born in León, Guanajuato City, Mexico on 22 January 1888[1] to a Navarrese father and an Indigenous Mexican mother.

[7][1][9][3] His first professional bullfighting appearance was at the Toreo de la Condesa on 1 October 1905[8] in Mexico City.

[8][10][11] At a celebration for the 100th anniversary of Mexico's independence from Spain in 1921, Gaona invented the pase del centenario, or centennial pass, a variation of the gaonera.

[5][2] Gaona's divorce from actress Carmen Ruiz Moragas, the mistress of King Alfonso XIII, attracted public ridicule, including allegations of being a cuckold or homosexual.