Ernesto Guevara de la Serna was born in Rosario, Argentina, in 1928 to a middle-class family with aristocratic Spanish and Irish roots. Asthma plagued his childhood but did not stop him from motorcycle journeys across Latin America in the early 1950s, travels that exposed him to poverty, exploitation, and the United Fruit Company's power—experiences he recorded in The Motorcycle Diaries.

After completing medical studies in Buenos Aires, Guevara met Fidel and Raúl Castro in Mexico City and joined the expedition that landed in Cuba aboard the Granma in 1956. As a comandante in the Sierra Maestra, he proved a disciplined guerrilla leader and later oversaw the revolutionary tribunal at La Cabaña. Following Batista's fall in 1959, he held posts in the new government, including president of the National Bank and minister of industry, advocating rapid industrialization and relations with the Soviet bloc.

Restless in administrative roles, Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution elsewhere. Failed campaigns in Congo-Kinshasa and Bolivia ended when Bolivian troops, advised by the CIA, captured and executed him in October 1967. His death at thirty-nine transformed a controversial guerrilla into one of the twentieth century's most reproduced political images.

1. 1953

   Motorcycle Journey

   Traveled through South America, witnessing inequality that radicalized his politics.

2. 1956

   Granma Landing

   Sailed with Castro's rebels to Cuba to begin the armed struggle against Batista.

3. 1959

   Revolutionary Triumph

   Entered Havana as a victor after Batista fled the island.

4. 1965

   Departure from Cuba

   Left public office to pursue revolution in Africa and Latin America.

5. 1967

   Captured in Bolivia

   Killed at La Higuera after the Bolivian army suppressed his guerrilla column.