Do you know him?

Che Guevara is by far one of the most popular T-shirt political figure . Once I asked a boy wearing a Che printed t-shirt , `do you know this face?’. He hesitated for a moment and afterwards I acquired the knowledge from him that Che is a beard man with a star sealed beret. Most of the people who wear Che on their chests have their knowledge of Che like this. Disgraceful, A T-shirt is not worthy to print the face of ``Ernesto (Che) Guevara De La Serna’’(1928-1967). If you wear one , please have a least knowledge respect for him.

Ernesto Guevara De La Serna, El Che, or simply Che, was an Argentine first row Marxist theorist, revolutionary politician, author, physician, military theorist, and paramilitary guerrilla leader. He was a great leader of Latin America and played a great role in freedom of Cuba from the dictator `Batista’ government of the country.

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna was born in Rosario, Argentina(June 14, 1928) into a middle-class family of Spanish-Irish descent. In his youth Guevara read widely and among his reading list in the 1940s were Sartre, Pablo Neruda, Ciro Alegría, and Karl Marx's Das Kapital. He also kept a philosophical diary and in Africa 1965 Guevara planned to write a biography of Marx.

In 1953 Guevara graduated from the University of Buenos Aires, where he was trained as a doctor. During these years Guevara read Stalin and Mussolini but did not join radical student organizations. He made long travels in Argentina and in other Latin America countries. At the same time his critical views about the expanding economic influence of the United States deepened. In 1952 he made journey with his Friend Alberto Granado on his motor bike, an old Norton 500 single, around South America. The journey opened his eyes about the situation of the Indians and was crucial for the awakening of his social conscience. Guevara recorded his impressions in The Motorcycle Diaries.

After witnessing American intervention in Guatemala in 1954, Guevara radicalized and become convinced that the only way to bring about change was by violent revolution. He had joined Fidel Castro's revolutionaries to overthrow the Batista government. In 1956 they loaded 38-feet long motor yacht Granma full of guerrillas and weapons and sailed to Cuba, landing near Cabo Cruz on December 2.

Guevara rose to the rank of major and led one of the forces that invaded central Cuba in the late 1958. After the conquest of power in January 1959 Guevara gained fame as the leading figure in Castro's government. He attracted much attention with his speeches against imperialism and US policy in the Third World. He argued strongly for centralized planning, and emphasized creation of the 'new socialist man'.

From 1961 to 1965 Guevara was minister for industries, and director of the national bank, signing the bank notes simply 'Che'. He traveled widely in Russia, India and Africa, meeting the leading figures of the world, among others Jawaharel Nehru and Nikita Khruschev. Guevara was also the architect of the close relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union.

In 1966 Guevara turned up incognito in Bolivia where he trained and led a guerrilla war in the Santa Cruz region. In his manual Guerrilla Warfare, Guevara had stressed that the guerrilla fighter needs full help from the people of the area, it is an indispensable condition, but Guevara failed to win the support of the peasants and his group was surrounded near Vallegrande by American-trained Bolivian troops. Guevara was shot in a schoolhouse in La Higuera on October 9, 1967, by Warrant Officer Mario Terán of the Bolivian Rangers at the request of Colonel Zenteno.

Latin American revolutionary leader, who rejected both capitalism and orthodox Soviet communism, Guevara lived an adventurous life. Guevara's tragic early death in Bolivia created a legend that still lives. "Che considered himself a soldier of this revolution, with absolutely no concern about surviving it," said Fidel Castro.

Selected works:

• LA GUERRA DE GUERRILLAS, 1960 - Guerrilla Warfare

• PASAJES DE LA GUERRA REVOLUCIONARIA, 1963 - Reminiscences of the Cuban E Revolutionary War - Vallankumoussota Kuubassa

• Guerrilla Warfare: A Method, 1963

• EL SOCIALISMO Y EL HOMBRE E CUBA, 1965 - Socialism and Man

• Che Guevara Speaks, 1967 (ed. by George Lanvan)

• DIARIA DE CHE EN BOLIVIA, 1968 - Diary of Che Guevara (ed. by Robert Scheer) / Bolivian Diary of Ernesto "Che" Guevara

• OBRAS COMPLETAS, 1968

• Venceremos! The Speeches and Writings of Che Guevara, 1968 (ed. by John Gerassi)

• Che Guevara on Revolution, 1969 (ed. by Jay Mallin)

• Che Guerava, 1969 (selected works)

• Che: Selected works of Ernesto Guevara, 1970 (ed. by Rolando Bonachea and Nelson P. Valdes)

• OBRAS 1957-1967, 1970 (2 vols.)

• ESCRITOS Y DISCURSOS, 1977 (9 vols.)

• Che Guevara and the Cuban Revolution: Writings and Speeches of Ernesto Che Guevara, 1987

• The Motorcycle Diaries: A Journey Around South America by Ernesto Che Guevara, 1995 (trans. by Ann Wright) - Moottoripyöräpäiväkirja (trans. into Finnish by Aleksi Siltala, from Notas de viaje. Mi primer gran viaje: de la Argentina e Venezuela en motocicleta) - film 2004, dir. by Walter Salles, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Rodrogo de la Serna

• Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War, 1956-58, 1996 (ed. by Mary-Alice Waters)

• Che Guevara Reader: Writings by Ernesto Che Guevara on Guerrilla Strategy, Politics & Revolution, 1997

• Che Guevara Speaks: Selected Speeches and Writings, 2000

• Che Guevara Talks to Young People, 2000 (ed. by Mary-Alice Waters)

• The Complete Bolivian Diaries of Che Guevara, and Other Captured Documents, 2000 (ed. by Danile James)

• The African Dream: The Diaries of the Revolutionary War in the Congo, 2001 (trans. by Patrick Camiller)

• Back on the Road: A Journey to Latin America, 2002 (trans. by Patrick Camiller) - Tien päällä taas (trans. into Finnish by Anu Partanen, from Otra vez)

• Che Guevara on Global Justice, 2002