"Che" Guevara was born Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna on June 14, 1928 in Rosario, Argentina. He lived in a fairly large middle class family. His father Ernesto Guevara Lynch and mother, Celia de la Serna, both had strong ties to the Argentinian ruling class even though they were extremely leftist and instilled their "question authority" attitude to all of their children including their eldest, Che. Che's father was a "jack of all trades" and went into business as a plantation owner, boat builder, and architect in the course of his life. His mother was extremely well read and exposed Che to such writers as Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud at a very young age.
             At the age of two Che developed severe asthma which was to plague him until death. It became so bad that it forced his whole family to move to Alta Gracia in hope that the dry climate will prevent some of the symptoms. Despite Che's ailments he was still very active thanks to his father. He became an accomplished swimmer, horse back rider, soccer player, rugby player, and golfer. And his immense intellect was present in his tactics while playing chess.
             In 1946, Che enrolled in the University of Buenos Aires for a degree in medicine. There he developed a strong sense of adventure and took time off from school to see the horrid conditions of the Latin American proletariat class. In 1950, Che jimmy-rigged a motor on his bicycle and set out on a 3,000 mile tour of Argentina with his friend Alberto Grenado. The next year Che got a job as a nurse on a cargo ship and sailed around Latin America. While visiting a Chilean copper mine he made friends with communist "agitators" and had his first taste of open rebellion during a strike protesting working conditions.
             These experiences of traveling with little or no money and taking jobs along the way opened his eyes to the lifestyles that the majority of the people ...