Overview
- Multiple media outlets and hospital-linked sources confirmed that José Lorenzo Zubiate, known as Mondonguito, died on Friday, November 13, 2026, after weeks of treatment at Hospital Cayetano Heredia.
- His daughter and reporting state doctors diagnosed severe pulmonary fibrosis that had compromised roughly 70–80% of his lungs and was complicated by a pulmonary infection that caused rapid respiratory decline.
- Friends and family say he spent his final days in the hospital ICU on maximum oxygen support and that medical and family members decided to remove life support as his condition became irreversible.
- Colleagues organized fundraisers that raised about S/12,000 and entertainer Ernesto Pimentel offered to cover the funeral costs while the family considers an official wake venue such as the Ministry of Culture or Museo de la Nación.
- Mondonguito built a four‑decade career from circus and street shows to television and international stages, and his death highlights both his cultural legacy and the economic fragility faced by many members of Peru’s comic ambulante tradition.