Biography of the Che chapter 1

 Che Guevara: A Biography - Notes

Introduction/Overview

This biography details the life of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, from his early years in Argentina to his role as a prominent figure in the Cuban Revolution and his later revolutionary activities. The notes aim to capture key events, personal development, political evolution, and significant relationships that shaped his life and ideology.

Chapter 1: Guevara's Early Life in Argentina

I. Birth and Family Background

 * Birth Details: Ernesto Guevara was born on May 14, 1928, in Rosario, Argentina, though his birth certificate states June 14, 1928.

 * Naming: Named Ernesto after his father. His full name was Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, combining his father's (Guevara) and mother's (de la Serna) family names. He was known as Ernesto Guevara in his early life, as the name "Che" was adopted much later.

 * Parents' Origins:

   * Father (Ernesto Guevara Lynch): Of upper-class origin, an entrepreneur and builder-architect who studied architecture but didn't complete his degree. He engaged in various ventures like ranching, yacht building, and cultivating maté (Argentine herbal tea) before settling as a builder-architect. His ancestry was Spanish (Guevara) and Irish (Lynch). One of his great-grandfathers was among South America's wealthiest men, but the family later lost most of its wealth.

     * Example of Ancestry: His great-grandfather, Juan Antonio Guevara, went to California during the gold rush and married Concepción Castro. Their son, Roberto Guevara Castro, born in California, returned to Argentina and married Ana Isabel Lynch, also born in California to an Argentine family of Irish ancestry. Ernesto (Che) enjoyed his grandmother Ana Isabel's stories of frontier life in California.

   * Mother (Celia de la Serna y Llosa): Came from a wealthy landowning family of Spanish ancestry. She received a significant inheritance at age 21, the same year Ernesto was born. A graduate of an exclusive Catholic girls' school in Buenos Aires, she was intelligent, literate, unconventional, generous, and deeply devoted to Ernesto.

 * Early Childhood and Health:

   * Soon after his birth, the family moved to San Isidro, Argentina.

   * Asthma: Ernesto developed asthma at a young age in San Isidro, a condition he suffered from his entire life. His mother, an avid swimmer, used to take him to the yacht club. On a chilly day, he fell very ill, and a doctor diagnosed him with severe asthma.

   * Move for Health: Doctors advised moving to a drier climate. Consequently, the family moved to Alta Gracia in the province of Córdoba.

II. Growing Up in Alta Gracia and Córdoba

 * Siblings: Ernesto grew up in Alta Gracia and later Córdoba with his two brothers and two sisters.

 * Impact of Climate: The dry climate of Córdoba benefited his health, though he still had periodic asthma attacks.

 * Childhood Activities and Personality:

   * Despite asthma, he spent much time outdoors, organizing hikes and playing physical games.

   * He learned to swim early, a passion encouraged by his parents to help his breathing. He also became an avid golfer and horse rider.

   * Friends remembered him as decisive, bold, sure of himself, enthusiastic, mischievous, courageous, and adventurous. He was a daredevil, possibly to prove himself despite his illness.

   * Nicknames: "Tete" (family), "Ernestito," "Fuser," and "Chancho" (friends). "Chancho" (Pig) was due to his unkempt appearance and reluctance to bathe, partly because baths, especially cold ones, often triggered asthma attacks.

   * A childhood friend, Enrique Martin, described him as a "real friend when somebody needed him," "a charismatic person," and kind, never angry for long.

 * Family Home: The family rented various houses in Alta Gracia. Villa Nydia, where they lived from 1935-1937 and 1939-1943, is now the Museo Casa del Che Guevara.

 * Family Life and Parental Influence:

   * Relatively happy family life, though his parents separated when he was a young adult.

   * Father's Role: Gave him considerable freedom and moral support.

   * Mother's Role: Gave him much love and attention; they shared a special bond, and he confided in her even during the Cuban Revolution.

   * Education at Home: Due to asthma, his mother tutored him at home during his early primary school years. She also taught him French, in which he became fluent. His school attendance became regular in secondary school as asthma attacks decreased.

   * Freethinking Environment: Parents encouraged their children to be freethinkers, discussing various subjects and associating with people from all classes. They received no religious instruction and were excused from religion classes at school.

   * Religious Views: Ernesto was baptized Catholic as an infant but never confirmed. His parents, especially his father, were critical of the Catholic clergy's conservative role in Latin American society. They believed their children should learn about life's realities early on.

   * Bohemian Lifestyle: The family followed few social conventions.

   * Mother's Unconventionality: Celia challenged gender norms in Alta Gracia; she was the first woman in town to drive, wear trousers, and smoke in public. Her social standing and generosity (e.g., a free-milk program for poorer children) allowed her to break social norms.

   * Temperament: His father considered Celia "imprudent from birth" and "attracted to danger," traits he believed she passed to Ernesto. Ernesto's father had an Irish temper, which Ernesto seemed to inherit, becoming enraged if treated unjustly. However, Ernesto was more like his mother in temperament, and they often criticized societal hypocrisy together.

 * Sports:

   * Enjoyed soccer (goalkeeper, always with an asthma inhaler) and excelled at rugby.

   * Rugby: Played the forward position fearlessly, which some believe helped shape his daring leadership personality.

 * Intellectual Pursuits:

   * Intelligent and learned easily, but not an exceptional student as his interests were outside school (hiking, football, rugby, chess). He was an excellent chess player.

   * Avid Reader: Developed a love for adventure and history books from his father (e.g., Jules Verne) and fiction, philosophy, and poetry from his mother. He read nearly all books in his parents' home library by early adolescence. His first wife, Hilda Gadea, recalled him saying he read his father's library randomly, finding a mix of adventure, Greek tragedy, and Marxist books.

   * Early Reading List: Included authors like Sigmund Freud, Charles-Pierre Baudelaire, Émile Zola, Jack London, Pablo Neruda, Anatole France, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Karl Marx. He especially liked Pablo Neruda's poetry and admired Mahatma Gandhi.

 * Politicized Environment:

   * Parents' Political Leanings: Both parents supported the leftist Republican cause during the Spanish Civil War and became friends with Spanish Republican exiles in Argentina. They were fiercely anti-Nazi. His father was part of Acción Argentina (an anti-Nazi, pro-Allies group), and Ernesto joined its youth wing at age 11. His mother formed a committee to support Charles de Gaulle's Free French forces. She was more leftist and progressive than his father, who was more of a libertarian conservative. Both opposed fascism and Juan Perón's rise in Argentina.

   * Impact on Ernesto: His parents' political activities during the Spanish Civil War, WWII, and their anti-Peronist stance shaped his early political consciousness, worldview, and ideals.

 * Early Character Traits: Fearlessness, leadership inclination, stubbornness, competitive spirit, and self-discipline were evident in his boyhood. Politics was secondary to other interests at this stage.

III. Life in Córdoba and Early Adulthood

 * Move to Córdoba (1943): Family moved to Córdoba, where he was already attending a more liberal secondary school.

 * Open Home Environment: Their home in Córdoba maintained the same casual, open-door policy as in Alta Gracia, welcoming all friends and guests, with no regular meal schedules. Ernesto and his mother would tease pretentious visitors.

 * Friendship with Granado Brothers:

   * Met Tomás (schoolmate) and Alberto Granado (Tomás's older brother).

   * Alberto, a biochemistry student and rugby coach, was impressed by Ernesto's fearlessness in rugby despite asthma and his avid reading.

 * Interests and Habits:

   * Reading: Continued to be an avid reader with eclectic tastes, particularly poetry, and could recite many poems from memory. His schoolmates, however, remembered him as mostly "politically disinterested" during secondary school.

   * First Sexual Experience: Occurred at age 15 with a young maid named "La Negra" Cabrera, arranged by a friend, Carlos "Calica" Ferrer. Friends spied on him and joked about him using his asthma inhaler during the act, which didn't perturb him.

   * Appearance and Attitude (by age 17): Developed an attractive appearance (slim, wide-shouldered, dark hair, intense eyes) and a devil-may-care, eccentric attitude with contempt for formality. He bragged about infrequent bathing, earning the nickname "El Chancho" (the Pig).

   * School Grades: Did best in subjects that interested him (literature, history, philosophy) and poorly in those that didn't (mathematics, natural history, English, music). He had no ear for music and was a poor dancer.

   * Philosophical Dictionary: In 1945, he compiled a 165-page notebook, his "philosophical dictionary," with notes on thinkers and concepts like love, immortality, justice, and God, including his own commentaries.

   * Chaotic Home Environment: His mother Celia presided over a "fascinating human zoo" of diverse guests, while his father was often out. Ernesto often read for hours in the bathroom to escape distractions. His parents became estranged but lived under the same roof.

 * Post-Secondary School and Early Work:

   * Graduated from secondary school in 1946.

   * Planned to study engineering with Tomás Granado but first worked for the provincial public highways department as a materials analyst after a special course.

 * Personal Tragedies and Prophetic Poem:

   * While working in Villa María, he learned of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination and his grandmother Ana Isabel Guevara's terminal illness.

   * Poem on Death (January 1947): Wrote a free-verse poem expressing a premonition of dying in battle ("riddled with bullets") rather than from asthma, a prophecy fulfilled 20 years later.

 * Move to Buenos Aires and Grandmother's Death:

   * Family moved to Buenos Aires while he was away, selling their Córdoba house and moving into his grandmother Ana Isabel's apartment due to his father's poor business.

   * Ernesto returned to be at his grandmother's bedside in May 1947, showing incredible patience and care for her until her death.

   * Her death greatly affected him; his sister Celia said it was "one of the greatest sadnesses of his life".

 * Decision to Study Medicine:

   * His grandmother's painful death and his interest in finding a cure for asthma likely led him to study medicine instead of engineering.

   * Enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires within a month of arriving.

   * His family believed the shock of his grandmother's death and a desire to alleviate human suffering motivated him. His choice of allergy specialization also suggested a desire to cure asthma.

   * Ernesto later said he dreamed of being a famous investigator and finding something beneficial for humanity.

 * Medical Studies and Part-Time Work:

   * Held part-time jobs, the longest at Dr. Salvador Pisani's clinic, where he also received asthma treatment.

   * Worked as a research assistant in Dr. Pisani's lab, focusing on innovative treatments for asthma-related allergies, and decided to specialize in allergy treatment. Dr. Pisani's family also cared for him during severe asthma attacks.

 * Spare Time and Military Service: Devoted spare time to rugby, chess, and travel. Received a medical deferment from military service due to asthma.

 * Political Orientation (as a student):

   * A "progressive liberal" who avoided formal political affiliations.

   * Views were nationalist, anti-imperialist, and anti-American, but critical of the Argentine Communist Party's sectarianism.

   * Interested in Marx's writings and socialist thought but was not a Marxist at this stage.

   * Seen as an engaging, intelligent nonconformist, an "oddball".

   * Views on Perón: Did not vote in the 1946 election that brought Perón to power (not yet 18) and, like most students, didn't support him. Characterized as "a-Peronist" (indifferent), though he reportedly told family maids to vote for Perón as his policies would help their class. No clear evidence of his thoughts on Eva "Evita" Perón during this period.

     * Context on Evita Perón: Eva Duarte Perón was a charismatic populist figure, influential in labor and women's rights, running ministries and foundations. She became a political icon after her death in 1952, similar to Che later, but there's no evidence of any connection between them.

 * Family Financial Situation and Relationships:

   * Father sold his maté plantation, and Celia bought a modest home in Buenos Aires. Older children had to find jobs.

   * Despite parents' separation (father slept on the sofa), Ernesto maintained close relationships with both. His father described their relationship as a camaraderie with constant political arguments.

   * Relationship with his mother was attentive, especially after her breast cancer diagnosis and mastectomy in 1946. She maintained an informal, hospitable household. The house was sparsely furnished, books everywhere, and had faulty wiring.

   * Aunt Beatriz: Ernesto often studied at his spinster Aunt Beatriz's apartment, who doted on him, preparing meals and maté. She was conservative and proper, and Ernesto enjoyed scandalizing her affectionately. A cousin reported Ernesto secretly seduced her maid there.

 * Photograph from Medical School (Figure description):

   * A photograph shows 28 white-coated students with a cadaver. Most students look serious or smile at the camera, but Ernesto in the third row has a broad, joking smile.

   * He is the only man not wearing a tie, likely wearing his one white nylon shirt, "La Semanera" (The Weekly One), which he washed weekly.

   * Among the three women is Berta "Tita" Infante, with whom Ernesto had a deep platonic relationship; she looks at the camera intensely.

 * Relationship with Berta "Tita" Infante:

   * Met in an anatomy course, became close friends and confidants. She possibly wanted a romantic relationship, which he wasn't willing to give at the time.

   * Tita's description of Ernesto: "a provincial by his accent," "a beautiful and uninhibited young man," a mix of "shyness and arrogance," hiding "profound intelligence and insatiable desire to understand things," and an "infinite capacity to love".

   * Their friendship continued after medical school, and he corresponded with her frequently.

 * Ernesto's Reflection on His Student Years:

   * Years later, Che (the revolutionary) reflected that as a medical student, most of his revolutionary concepts were absent. He wanted to succeed personally, dreamed of being a famous researcher, and saw himself as a "child of my environment," primarily concerned with individual achievement rather than selfless service to humanity.