Fidel Castro Biography and Works.

Fidel Castro was born on August 13, 1926 in Birab, Cuba. Some of the nicknames given to Fidel Castro were ‘El Comandante’, ‘El Caballo’ and ‘El Jefe Maximo’.

Known as a rebellious, loud, and troublesome child, Fidel was sent to a Jesuit boarding school in Santiago de Cuba, where he was often teased by his wealthier classmates who called him a ‘peasant’.

He later attended Belen College and the University of Havana, and earned a law degree.

After graduating from the university, Castro briefly practised law before he went on to marry a wealthy philosophy student, Mirta Diaz-Balart. The couple had one child and they divorced five years after their marriage.

After several years in prison and exile (he lived in Mexico and New York City before starting the revolution), Castro led an attack on the Moncada barracks on July 26, 1953. This was a major attack on Batista’s hold of Cuba. Castro once again was imprisoned before he was released.

After his release, he went to the Yucatan, where he organized a rebel force that landed in Cuba in 1958 and after many successful battles, Castro rode triumphantly into Havana in 1959.

Fidel Castro was Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President from December 2, 1976 to February 24, 2008. On that date, Fidel Castro handed over Presidency of Cuba to his younger brother Raul Castro who continues to occupy the chair till to day. Fidel breathed his last on 25 November 2016.

Trivia

He rarely sleeps more than three or four hours a day.