Who was Che Guevara ?

Revolutionary leader. Born Ernesto Guevara de la Serna on June 14, 1928, in Rosario, Argentina. After completing his medical studies at the University of Buenos Aires, Guevara became political active first in his native Argentina and then in neighboring Bolivia and Guatemala. In 1954, he met Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro and his brother Raul while in Mexico.

Guevara became part of Fidel Castro’s efforts to overthrow the Batista government in Cuba. He served as a military advisor to Castro and led guerrilla troops in battles against Batista forces. When Castro took power in 1959, Guevara became in charge of La Cabaña Fortress prison. It is estimated that between 156 and 550 people were executed on Guevara’s extra-judicial orders during this time.

Later, he became president of the Cuban national bank and helped to shift the country’s trade relations from the United States to the Soviet Union. Three years later, he was appointed minister of industry.

Guevara left this post in 1965 to export the ideas of Cuba’s revolution to other parts of the world. In 1966, he began to try to incite the people of Bolivia to rebel against their government, but had little success. With only a small guerrilla force to support his efforts, Guevara was captured and killed in La Higuera by the Bolivian army on October 9, 1967.

Since his death, Guevara has become a legendary political figure. His name is often equated with rebellion, revolution, and socialism. Others, however, still remember that he could be ruthless and ordered prisoners executed without trial in Cuba. Guevara’s life continues to be a subject of great public interest and been explored and portrayed in numerous books and films, including The Motorcycle Diaries (2004).

Che Guevara was a prominent communist figure in the Cuban Revolution (1956–59) who went on to become a guerrilla leader in South America. Executed by the Bolivian army in 1967, he has since been regarded as a martyred hero by generations of leftists worldwide.

Guevara’s image remains a prevalent icon of leftist radicalism and anti-imperialism.Revolutionary leader. Born Ernesto Guevara de la Serna on June 14, 1928, in Rosario, Argentina.

After completing his medical studies at the University of Buenos Aires, Guevara became political active first in his native Argentina and then in neighboring Bolivia and Guatemala.

In 1954, he met Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro and his brother Raul while in Mexico.Guevara became part of Fidel Castro’s efforts to overthrow the Batista government in Cuba.

He served as a military advisor to Castro and led guerrilla troops in battles against Batista forces. When Castro took power in 1959, Guevara became in charge of La Cabaña Fortress prison.

It is estimated that between 156 and 550 people were executed on Guevara’s extra-judicial orders during this time.Later, he became president of the Cuban national bank and helped to shift the country’s trade relations from the United States to the Soviet Union.

Three years later, he was appointed minister of industry. Guevara left this post in 1965 to export the ideas of Cuba’s revolution to other parts of the world.

In 1966, he began to try to incite the people of Bolivia to rebel against their government, but had little success. With only a small guerrilla force to support his efforts, Guevara was captured and killed in La Higuera by the Bolivian army on October 9, 1967.

Since his death, Guevara has become a legendary political figure. His name is often equated with rebellion, revolution, and socialism. Others, however, still remember that he could be ruthless and ordered prisoners executed without trial in Cuba.

Guevara’s life continues to be a subject of great public interest and been explored and portrayed in numerous books and films, including The Motorcycle Diaries (2004).

The life and legacy of Ernesto Guevara de la Serna is in focus this week 50 years after his death on October 9, 1967.Al Jazeera examines Ernesto "Che" Guevara: the man, the revolutionary, and his legacy.

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, known worldwide as Che, was born on June 14, 1928, into a middle-class family in Rosario, northeast Argentina.

He had a left-leaning, and literary, family life before beginning his studies in medicine at Buenos Aires University in 1948.Two years later, Guevara started the first of two motorcycle journeys through Latin America which in successive years would help shape his political views and sense of purpose.

Guevara became convinced during his journeys - 4,500km and 8,000km respectively - that the solutions to the widespread poverty and oppression he had witnessed were armed revolution and communism.

After briefly returning to Buenos Aires to complete his degree in 1953, the newly titled Dr Ernesto Guevara left Argentina, and later a career in medicine, to pursue a political future which would see him feature in revolutions from Cuba to Africa's Congo.

Guevara is known for his role in the Cuban revolution of 1959, which witnessed Fidel Castro's removal of Fulgencio Batista as the country's head of state.

The two first met in Mexico City almost five years earlier, where Guevara had moved in 1954.

Having joined Castro's "26th July Movement", aimed at seizing power from Batista, Guevara rose to become a key figure in the revolution and was duly appointed as president of the National Bank of Cuba and minister of industry following its success.

From this positon, he was able to roll out domestic plans for land redistribution and the nationalisation of Cuban industry. He travelled around the world as an ambassador for the country.

Guevara guided the Castro government towards closer alignment with the Soviet Union through his diplomacy, which would prove a crucial relationship for Cuba throughout the Cold War as Castro sought to prevent the United States from interfering in the country.