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Una relación exacta, con fechas y detalles de que ella en persona había hecho cambiar las piedras de dos generaciones de hermosas y dignas Cargamantos, y había vendido las legítimas a la misma tienda. (García Márquez, Memoria de mis putas tristes)

WordReference and some other sources say cargamento (not cargamanto) means cargo, ship, etc. However, I was unable to find any definition of Cargamanto or Cargamantos in any source. Is it a type of precious stone?

Grossman's translation of the novel uses the word as is so it has to be a proper noun. But, what exactly?

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  • 3
    Without more context, it looks like a surname. She changed the jewels belonging to two generations of Cargamanto women (mother and daughters).
    – angus
    Commented Jul 6, 2016 at 22:39
  • 2
    I agree with @angus, I understood it as a surname. In fact, searching a bit I see that there is a character in the book named Florina de Dios Cargamantos.
    – Charlie
    Commented Jul 7, 2016 at 6:10
  • @DGaleano Por curiosidad, ¿existe el apellido Cargamantos en Colombia o es un chiste?
    – Rodrigo
    Commented Jul 7, 2016 at 13:46
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    @Rodrigo No. Pienso que Gabo se lo inventó. En Colombia una de las clases de frijol más usado es el cargamanto (sin s al final) pero no conozco a nadie con ese apellido.
    – DGaleano
    Commented Jul 7, 2016 at 14:04

3 Answers 3

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Googling for Memoria de mis putas tristes and Cargamantos reveals what people are saying in the comments to your question: this is just the surname of a certain character in the book, called Doña Florina de Dios Cargamantos.

So when García Márquez says:

... había hecho cambiar las piedras de dos generaciones de hermosas y dignas Cargamantos...

he's talking about the gemstones (jewelry) of two generations of lovely and dignified women in the Cargamantos clan.

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  • @aparente thanks for the corrections in the text!!
    – fedorqui
    Commented Sep 3, 2018 at 7:48
  • You're welcome, and I'm glad you don't mind. // I have a vague idea the author chose "Cargamantos" because it's suggestive of some quality of the family. Do you want to add something about that to your answer?
    – aparente001
    Commented Sep 3, 2018 at 20:13
  • @aparente001 that's an interesting point I hadn't thought about. Cargmantos is indeed a suggestive name, specially to convey the dignity of the women (manto: Vestidura, generalmente recamada, que cubre algunas imágenes de la Virgen desde la cabeza hasta la parte inferior de la peana)
    – fedorqui
    Commented Sep 4, 2018 at 6:08
  • I'm picturing substantial, dignified women. The sort who can wear heavy, impressive coats. The opposite of the willowy type who tires easily. But I don't know if that's what others would picture when reading this made-up last name.
    – aparente001
    Commented Sep 4, 2018 at 21:41
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Probably refers to the cargamantos beans:

enter image description here

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    It is correct that cargamanto is a kind of bean but in the context of the question Cargamantos (with capital C) is a surname as described on the accepted answer by @fedorqui
    – DGaleano
    Commented Jul 7, 2016 at 13:58
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Frejoles, fríjoles, frijoles, porotos, caraotas, habichuelas in Spanish. English: beans. Scientific name: Phaseolus vulgaris.

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