Che Guevara’s face lives on, fifty years after death

In the fifty years since his death, the image of Ernesto “Che” Guevara has become a ubiquitous symbol – almost as recognizable an icon as the logos for Coca-Cola or McDonald’s. 

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In this Dec. 13, 1964 photo, Cuba's Ernesto "Che" Guevara makes an appearance on "Face the Nation" at CBS-TV studios in New York. (AP Photo)

Che’s face can be found on t-shirts and tattoos, stamps and signs, on banners and on balloons. Guevara’s visage has become a symbol of both revolution and at the same time a symbol of commercialization by the very fact that you can buy so many products covered with his image.

Guevara, who was born in 1928, was killed after his capture on October 9, 1967 in Bolivia where he was leading a guerilla movement.  He was shot by a sergeant in the Bolivian army. An Oct 10, 1967 Associated Press article reporting on his death, described Guevara this way:

“An Argentine who turned revolutionary after having received a medical degree, Mr. Guevara fought with Premier Castro in his revolution in the Sierra Maestra of Cuba. Afterward he played an active role in the Cuban Communist Government before he dropped out of sight.”

From Lebanon to Portugal, Haiti and Thailand, Turkey, Italy and South Africa, from an art gallery in Russia, on the bumper of a car in Nicaragua, and of course on many walls in Cuba itself, Che Guevara’s image seems omnipresent. From his death half a century ago, the image of a man who to many was seen as a martyr has become the face of the marketer.

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A Lebanese activist wears a portrait of ''Che Guevara'' as others chant slogans during a protest against the trash crisis and government corruption, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A bicycle taxi rides past a building painted with a Cuban flag and an image of Che Guevara, along with the Spanish slogan "Always toward victory!" in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, March 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

A protestor wearing a tattoo of Cuba's revolution leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara takes part in a demonstration in Lisbon against the government's plans of making it easier to lay-off people Thursday, July 28 2011. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

A young man wearing a T-shirt with an image of Cuban revolution leader Ernesto Che Guevara, shows a cellular phone to a friend during a Workers' Day march Thursday, May 1 2008, in Lisbon. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

A woman walks past a dummy wearing a t-shirt of Cuban revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara at the Petion Ville neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

A "Red Shirt" demonstrator carries a flag of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara as he and others wait to donate blood Tuesday, March 16, 2010, at an anti-government rally in Bangkok, Thailand. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)

A demonstrator draped with a flag showing the face of Che Guevara, the legendary guerrilla and revolutionary icon, marches in Madrid Saturday Jan. 31, 2009 to mark the the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Fans of Brazil stand next to a wall painted with a portrait of famous revolutionary hero Ernesto Che Guevara before the Chile vs. Brazil match during the 2014 soccer World Cup in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saturday, June 28, 2014.(AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

This photo shows mail stamps issued by the recently-privatized Argentine postal service to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the death of Argentine guerrilla leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara, executed by Bolivian army soldiers along with six fellow rebels 30 years ago. The 34 by 44 millimeter (1.3 by 1.7 inch) sepia-colored stamp which will go on sale Wednesday Oct. 8, 1997, shows a three quarters profile photo of Guevara taken by Cuban photographer Raul Corralvalera in 1967. (AP Photo/Daniel Muzio)

Turkish students demonstrate as one of them waves a flag with a poster of Latin American revolutionary legend Che Guevara during a protest rally against NATO and U. S. President Barack Obama, in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, April 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson reacts as a picture of Che Guevara is projected on a giant screen, during the taping of the "Chiambretti Night" television show in Milan, Italy, Monday, Jan. 25, 2010. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Argentina fans hold up a banner with images of former President Nelson Mandela, Diego Maradona and Che Guevara during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Argentina and Mexico at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa, Sunday, June 27, 2010. Argentina won 3-1. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

An artwork showing Russian President Vladimir Putin as Argentine revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara is displayed at the "Putin Universe" exhibition in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

A leftist supporter waves a flag with the iconic image of legendary revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, as he protests for the five Cubans who were arrested in Florida in 1998, calling for their release from an American jail, near the U.S. Embassy in Aukar, east of Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday Sept. 11, 2011. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A youth waits at a bus stop beside a mural painting of Che Guevara in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, July 28, 2016. Che Guevara was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader and major figure of the Cuban Revolution (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)

A New England Patriots fan, wearing a Che Guevara-like t-shirt depicting quarterback Tom Brady, waits for a chance to get an autograph during an NFL football training camp in Foxborough, Mass., Thursday, July 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

In this photo taken on Monday, June 13, 2016, a hot air balloon with the the image of Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara printed on it's side prepares to lift off during a ballooning festival in Velikiye Luki, Russia . (AP Photo/Maxim Marmur)

Activists of Sri Lanka's Marxist political party, People's Liberation Front carry posters of Che Guevara during a street march to celebrate international Labor Day known as May Day in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, May 1, 2012.  (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

A citizen points to a portrait of ''Che Guevara'' on a shirt of one demonstrator between two stickers, at a protest against the Spanish government's cutback plans, and for a new Spanish Republic, right, in Pamplona, northern Spain, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

Supporters of the communist-affiliated union PAME stand beneath a flag depicting Cuban revolutionary leader Che Guevara during an anti-austerity rally in Athens, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

A car decorated with images of Argentinian revolutionary leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara, left, and Nicaragua's national hero Augusto C. Sandino, right, is seen in Managua, Tuesday, June 26, 2007. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Roberto Alvarez, 47, right, chats with friends backdropped by a wall decorated with images of Cuban revolutionary heroes, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and his brother, President Raul Castro, in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

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Curation and text by Jonathan Elderfield

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