Ernesto Che Guevara (full name Ernesto Guevara; 1928-1967) - Latin American revolutionary, commander of the 1959 Cuban revolution and Cuban statesman.
In addition to the Latin American continent, he also operated in the DR Congo and other states (the data are still classified as classified).
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Ernesto Che Guevara, which we will talk about in this article.
So, here is a short biography of Ernesto Guevara.
Biography of Che Guevara
Ernesto Che Guevara was born on June 14, 1928 in the Argentine city of Rosario. His father, Ernesto Guevara Lynch, was an architect, and his mother, Celia De la Serna, was the daughter of a planter. His parents, Ernesto was the first of 5 children.
Childhood and youth
After the death of his relatives, the mother of the future revolutionary inherited the plantation of mate - Paraguayan tea. The woman was distinguished by compassion and justice, as a result of which she did everything possible to improve the standard of living of the workers on the plantation.
An interesting fact is that Celia began to pay the workers not in products, as it was before her, but in money. When Ernesto Che Guevara was barely 2 years old, he was diagnosed with bronchial asthma, which tormented him until the end of his days.
To improve the health of the first child, the parents decided to move to another region, with a more favorable climate. As a result, the family sold their estate and settled in the province of Cordoba, where Che Guevara spent his entire childhood. The couple bought an estate in the town of Alta Gracia, located at an altitude of 2000 meters above sea level.
For the first 2 years, Ernesto could not go to school due to poor health, so he was forced to receive home education. At this time in his biography, he suffered from asthmatic attacks every day.
The boy was distinguished by his curiosity, having learned to read at the age of 4. After leaving school, he successfully passed the college exams, after which he continued his studies at the university, choosing the Faculty of Medicine. As a consequence, he became a certified surgeon and dermatologist.
In parallel with medicine, Che Guevara showed interest in science and politics. He read the works of Lenin, Marx, Engels and other authors. By the way, there were several thousand books in the library of the young man's parents!
Ernesto was fluent in French, thanks to which he read the works of French classics in the original. It is curious that he deeply studied the works of the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, and also read the works of Verlaine, Baudelaire, Garcia Lorca and other writers.
Che Guevara was a great admirer of poetry, as a result of which he himself tried to write poetry. An interesting fact is that after the tragic death of the revolutionary, his 2-volume and 9-volume collected works will be published.
In his free time, Ernesto Che Guevara paid great attention to sports. He enjoyed playing football, rugby, golf, cycling a lot, and was also fond of horse riding and flying gliders. However, due to asthma, he was forced to always carry an inhaler with him, which he used very often.
Travels
Che Guevara began to travel in his student years. In 1950, he was hired as a sailor on a cargo ship, which led to visits to British Guiana (now Guyana) and Trinidad. Later, he agreed to participate in an advertising campaign for the Micron company, which invited him to travel on a moped.
On such transport, Ernesto Che Guevara successfully covered over 4000 km, having visited 12 Argentine provinces. The guy's travels did not end there.
Together with his friend, Doctor of Biochemistry, Alberto Granado, he visited many countries, including Chile, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela.
While traveling, young people earned their bread from casual part-time jobs: they treated people and animals, washed dishes in cafes, worked as loaders and did other dirty work. They often pitched tents in the forest, which served as a temporary lodging for them.
During one of his trips to Colombia, Che Guevara saw for the first time all the horrors of the civil war that then swept the country. It was during that period of his biography that revolutionary sentiments began to wake up in him.
In 1952 Ernesto successfully completed his diploma on allergic diseases. Having mastered the specialty of a surgeon, he worked for some time in a Venezuelan leper colony, after which he went to Guatemala. Soon he received a summons to the army, where he did not particularly strive to go.
As a result, Che Guevara imitated an asthmatic attack before the commission, thanks to which he received an exemption from service. During his stay in Guatemala, the revolutionary was overtaken by the war. To the best of his ability, he helped the opponents of the new regime to transport weapons and do other things.
After the defeat of the rebels, Ernesto Che Guevara fell under the roller of repression, so he was forced to urgently flee the country. He returned home and in 1954 moved to the capital of Mexico. Here he tried to work as a journalist, photographer, bookseller and watchman.
Later, Che Guevara got a job in the allergy department of the hospital. Soon he began to lecture and even engage in scientific activities at the Institute of Cardiology.
In the summer of 1955, an old friend of his who turned out to be a Cuban revolutionary came to see the Argentinean. After a long conversation, the patient managed to persuade Che Guevara to take part in the movement against the dictator of Cuba.
Cuban revolution
In July 1955, Ernesto met in Mexico with the revolutionary and future head of Cuba, Fidel Castro. The young people quickly found a common language among themselves, becoming key figures in the impending coup in Cuba. After some time, they were arrested and put behind bars, due to the leak of secret information.
And yet Che and Fidel were released thanks to the intercession of cultural and public figures. After that, they sailed to Cuba, still unaware of the upcoming difficulties. At sea, their ship was wrecked.
In addition, the crew members and passengers came under aerial fire from the current government. Many men died or were captured. Ernesto survived and, with several like-minded people, began to conduct partisan activities.
Being in very difficult circumstances, bordering on the verge of life and death, Che Guevara contracted malaria. During his treatment, he continued to avidly read books, write stories and keep a diary.
In 1957, the rebels managed to take control of certain regions of Cuba, including the Sierra Maestra mountains. Gradually, the number of rebels began to grow noticeably, as more and more dissatisfied with the Batista regime appeared in the country.
At that time, the biography of Ernesto Che Guevara was awarded the military rank of "commandant", becoming the head of a detachment of 75 soldiers. In parallel with this, the Argentine conducted campaigning activities as the editor of the "Free Cuba" publication.
Every day the revolutionaries became more and more powerful, capturing new territories. They allied with the Cuban communists, gaining more and more victories. Che's detachment occupied and established power in Las Villas.
During the coup d'etat, the rebels carried out many reforms in favor of the peasants, as a result of which they received support from them. In the battles for Santa Clara, on January 1, 1959, Che Guevara's army won a victory, forcing Batista to flee Cuba.
Recognition and glory
After a successful revolution, Fidel Castro became the ruler of Cuba, while Ernesto Che Guevara received official citizenship of the republic and the post of Minister of Industry.
Soon, Che went on a world tour, having visited Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan, Yugoslavia, Indonesia and several other countries. Later he was entrusted with the posts of head of the industry department and head of the National Bank of Cuba.
At this time, the biography of Che Guevara published the book "Guerrilla War", after which he again went on business visits to various countries. At the end of 1961, he visited the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, China, the DPRK and the German Democratic Republic.
The following year, ration cards were introduced on the island. Ernesto insisted that his rate be the same as that of ordinary Cubans. Moreover, he was actively involved in reed cutting, construction of structures and other types of work.
By that time, relations between Cuba and the United States had deteriorated sharply. In 1964, Che Guevara spoke at the UN, where he severely criticized America's policies. He admired Stalin's personality, and even jokingly signed some letters - Stalin-2.
It is worth noting that Ernesto repeatedly resorted to executions, which he did not hide from the public. So, from the UN rostrum, a man uttered the following phrase: “Shooting? Yes! We were shooting, we are shooting and we will shoot ... ”.
An interesting fact is that Castro's sister Juanita, who knew the Argentinean well, spoke of Che Guevara like this: “For him, neither the trial nor the investigation mattered. He immediately began to shoot, because he did not have a heart. "
At some point, Che, having rethought a lot in his life, decided to leave Cuba. He wrote farewell letters to children, parents and Fidel Castro, after which he left Liberty Island in the spring of 1965. In his letters to friends and relatives, he said that other states needed his help.
After that, Ernesto Che Guevara went to Congo, where then a serious political conflict was growing. Together with like-minded people, he helped the local insurgent formations of partisan socialists.
Then Che went to "administer justice" to Africa. Then he again contracted malaria, in connection with which he was forced to be treated in a hospital. In 1966, he led a guerrilla unit in Bolivia. The US government closely monitored his actions.
Che Guevara has become a real threat to the Americans, who promised to pay a substantial reward for his murder. Guevara stayed in Bolivia for about 11 months.
Personal life
In his youth, Ernesto showed feelings for a girl from a wealthy family in Cardoba. However, the mother of his chosen one convinced her daughter to refuse to marry Che, who had the appearance of a street tramp.
In 1955, the guy married a revolutionary named Ilda Gadea, with whom he lived for 4 years. In this marriage, the couple had a girl named after her mother - Ilda.
Soon, Che Guevara married Aleida March Torres, a Cuban woman who was also involved in revolutionary activities. In this union, the couple had 2 sons - Camilo and Ernesto, and 2 daughters - Celia and Aleida.
Death
Once captured by the Bolivians, Ernesto was subjected to terrible torture, after refusing to inform the officers. The arrested person was wounded in the shin, and also had a terrible appearance: dirty hair, torn clothes and shoes. However, he acted like a real hero with his head up.
Moreover, sometimes Che Guevara spat at the officers who interrogated him and even hit one of them when they tried to take his pipe away. The last night before his execution, he spent on the floor of a local school, where he was interrogated. At the same time, next to him were the corpses of 2 of his killed comrades.
Ernesto Che Guevara was shot on October 9, 1967 at the age of 39. 9 bullets were fired at him. The mutilated body was put on public display, after which it was buried in an unknown place.
Che's remains were discovered only in 1997. The death of the revolutionary was a real shock for his compatriots. Moreover, the locals began to consider him a saint and even turned to him in prayers.
Today Che Guevara is a symbol of revolution and justice, and therefore, his images can be seen on T-shirts and souvenirs.
Photo of Che Guevara
