Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born in Birán, Holguín Province, Cuba, the fifth of nine children to Ángel María Bautista Castro y Argiz, a plantation owner from Galicia, Spain, who operated a plantation in Cuba's Oriente Province. His mother, Lina Ruz González, was a servant in his father's home who bore Fidel out of wedlock, a circumstance that would later be rectified with a marriage several years after Ángel's first wife's passing. Castro's childhood was marked by rebelliousness, loudness, and a penchant for trouble, traits that would serve him well in his later endeavors.
As a student, Castro attended a Jesuit boarding school in Santiago de Cuba, where he was frequently teased by his wealthier classmates, who would mockingly refer to him as a "peasant." He later transferred to Belen College before enrolling at the University of Havana, where he earned a law degree. Following his graduation, Castro briefly practiced law before deciding to pursue a career in politics.
In his personal life, Castro married Mirta Diaz-Balart, a wealthy philosophy student with family ties to Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. The couple had a son, Fidelito, but their marriage was short-lived, and they eventually divorced after five years. Castro spent several years in prison and exile, during which time he lived in Mexico and New York City before returning to Cuba to lead the revolution.
On July 26, 1953, Castro led an attack on the Moncada barracks, a major assault on Batista's hold on Cuba. The attack resulted in Castro's imprisonment, but he was eventually released and went on to organize a rebel force in the Yucatan. In 1958, Castro's forces landed in Cuba and engaged in a series of successful battles, culminating in his triumphant entry into Havana on January 8, 1959.
