Fidel Castro Age, Biography, Wife & More

Bio
Real Name	Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz
Nickname	Not Known
Profession	Politician and Revolutionary
Party	Communist Party of Cuba
Political Journey	• In 1947, he joined the Party of the Cuban People (Partido Ortodoxo), founded by Eduardo Chibás. • In June 1952 election, he was nominated for the House of Representatives. • In 1952, he formed a group called "The Movement". • On 16 February 1959, he was sworn in as the 16th Prime Minister of Cuba. • In July 1959, he proclaimed himself Representative of the Rebel Armed Forces of the Presidency and resumed his Premiership on July 23. • On 24 June 1961, he became the 1st secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba. • On 2 December 1976, he became the 17th President of Cuba.
Biggest Rival	Fulgencio Batista
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 191 cm in meters- 1.91 m in Feet Inches- 6’ 3”
Weight (approx.)	in Kilograms- 80 kg in Pounds- 176 lbs
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	White
Personal Life
Date of Birth	August 13, 1926
Place of Birth	Birán, Holguin Province, Cuba
Date of Death	November 25, 2016
Place of Death	Havana, Cuba
Cause of Death	Not Known
Age (as on 25 November 2016)	90 Years
Zodiac sign/Sun sign	Leo
Nationality	Cuban
Hometown	Santiago de Cuba
School	La Salle boarding school, Santiago, Cuba Jesuit-run Dolores School, Santiago, Cuba Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Havana, Cuba
College	University of Havana, Cuba
Educational Qualifications	Doctor of Law from the University of Havana
Debut	In 1947, when he joined the Party of the Cuban People (Partido Ortodoxo) founded by Eduardo Chibás
Family	Father- Ángel Castro y Argiz Mother- Lina Ruz González Brothers- Raúl Castro (President of Cuba), Ramón Castro Ruz, Pedro Emilio Castro Argota, Manuel Castro Argota, Martin Castro Sisters- Juanita Castro, Emma Castro, Ángela María Castro Ruz, Agustina Castro, Lidia Castro Argota, Antonia Maria Castro Argota, Georgina Castro Argota
Religion	Atheist (later became a Christian sympathizer in his old age)
Address	Fidel Castro Republica de Cuba Consejo De Estado Palacio del Gobierno Havana Cuba
Hobbies	Reading, Cooking, Spear-fishing
Controversies	• He was often criticized for his dictatorship & human rights violations to Cuban people. • He was also blamed for the stagnant economic growth of Cuba due to adverse relations with the United States.
Favorite Things
Favorite Writer	Ernest Hemingway
Favorite Book	For Whom the Bell Tolls by by Ernest Hemingway
Girls, Affairs and More
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Girlfriends	Mirta Diaz-Balart (1948-1955) Marita Lorenz (1959) Dalia Soto del Valle (1980-2016)
Wife	Mirta Diaz-Balart (married 1948-1955) Dalia Soto del Valle (married 1980-2016)
Children	Sons- Fidel Ángel Castro Díaz-Balart (from Mirta Diaz-Balart), Antonio Castro-Soto (from Dalia Soto del Valle), Alejandro Castro-Soto (from Dalia Soto del Valle), Alex Castro-Soto (from Dalia Soto del Valle), Jorge Angel Castro, Alexis Castro-Soto (from Dalia Soto del Valle), Angel Castro-Soto (from Dalia Soto del Valle) Daughters- Alina Fernández Francisca Pupo
Money Factor
Net Worth	$900 million (approx.)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Fidel Castro

• Did Fidel Castro smoke?: Not Known

• Did Fidel Castro drink alcohol?: Not Known

• He was born in Birán, Holguin Province, Cuba to a sugarcane farm owner.

• His father was a migrant to Cuba from Galicia in Spain, who became financially successful by growing sugarcane at Las Manacas farm in Birán, Oriente Province.

• At the age of 6, he was sent to live with his teacher in Santiago de Cuba.

• At the age of 8, he was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church.

• He attended the La Salle boarding school in Santiago, where he misbehaved regularly.

• Initially he took interest in Geography, History and debating at Belén, however, he did not excel in academics, instead took much interest in playing.

• During his law studies, he became embroiled in student activism and also involved in the violent gangsterismo culture within the university.

• He admitted in an interview that he was “politically illiterate”.

• On a platform of “honesty, decency and justice”, he unsuccessfully campaigned for the presidency of the Federation of University Students.

• During his student years, he was very passionate about anti-imperialism.

• In November 1946, he delivered a speech in a protest against the violence and corruption of Ramon Grau’s government and received front-page coverage of several newspapers.

• He started carrying a gun in the university after receiving a death threat from the Grau’s government.

• In 1948, when he married Mirta Diaz Balart (a student from a wealthy family), he came to know about the lifestyle of the Cuban elite. Their marriage was a love match, which was disapproved by both the families; however, his father-in-law gave them tens of thousands of dollars for their 3-month New York City honeymoon.

• In 1950, he co-founded a legal partnership for the Cuban poor, which proved as a financial failure due to which he could not pay his bills, his furniture was sold and electricity was cut-off.

• He met Fulgencio Batista during the 1952 elections campaigns. Batista seized power in a military coup in March 1952 and declared himself President of Cuba.

• Castro launched a protest movement to oust the regime of Batista and in the process used various tactics like legal cases guerrilla attacks etc.

• He appeared in a military uniform during the attack on Moncada Barracks (a Cuban military base in Santiago de Cuba) in July 1952 and became famous throughout the Cuba, however, he was captured along with his brother Raul and was put in jail.

• He delivered a passionate speech during his trial and was sentenced 15 year jail-term; however, Batista released him after serving only 2 years in jail as he didn’t consider him a threat anymore.

• After his release, he went to Mexico and organized “26th of July Movement”.

• He met with the popular revolutionary figure Ernesto Che Guevara during his travel to Mexico and both bonded together to launch a revolution against the capitalist United States’ exploitation of Latin America. Che became the key partner of Castro in the Cuban Revolution. 

• On 2 December 1956, he arrived on Cuban soil along with the 16th July Movement rebels to start a revolution against the Batista government, however, he couldn’t be successful in that and had to begin guerrilla warfare against Batista’s government.

• During the process, he won the hearts of the Cuban people and Batista government lost the popular support of the Cuban people and ultimately Batista had to flee from Cuba on 1 January 1959.

• By July 1959, he effectively took over as the leader of Cuba and made radical changes in Cuba like nationalization of industries, collective agriculture and seizing American owned farms and businesses.

• He 1959, he visited the United States and met with Richard Nixon (the the Vice President of the USA) whom he disliked instantly. 

• In 1960, he attended the United Nations General Assembly. 

• He built a strong relation with the Soviet Union, which antagonized the United States.

• United States wanted to oust Castro and sponsored the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion that failed with huge loss of life.

• By 1962, United States imposed a near total embargo of trade with Cuba in order to cripple the Cuban economy and as result of which, Cuban products were no longer legal in the United States, US companies were prohibited to do businesses in Cuba and American citizens were prohibited to visit Cuba.

• United States made almost 100 attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro, all without success.

• In 2008, he retired from the Presidency and adopted an advisory role in the Cuban Government.