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The Most Famous

SOCIAL ACTIVISTS from Peru

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This page contains a list of the greatest Peruvian Social Activists. The pantheon dataset contains 538 Social Activists, 3 of which were born in Peru. This makes Peru the birth place of the 41st most number of Social Activists behind Saudi Arabia and Belgium.

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Peruvian Social Activists of all time. This list of famous Peruvian Social Activists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Túpac Amaru II

1. Túpac Amaru II (1738 - 1781)

With an HPI of 65.89, Túpac Amaru II is the most famous Peruvian Social Activist.  His biography has been translated into 42 different languages on wikipedia.

José Gabriel Condorcanqui (c. 1742 – 18 May 1781) – known as Túpac Amaru II – was an indigenous cacique who led a large Andean rebellion against the Spanish in Peru as self-proclaimed Sapa Inca of a new Inca Empire. He later became a mythical figure in the Peruvian struggle for independence and indigenous rights movement, as well as an inspiration to myriad causes in Spanish America and beyond.

Photo of Abimael Guzmán

2. Abimael Guzmán (1934 - 2021)

With an HPI of 64.71, Abimael Guzmán is the 2nd most famous Peruvian Social Activist.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Manuel Rubén Abimael Guzmán Reynoso (Latin American Spanish: [maˈnwel ruˈβen aβimaˈel ɡusˈman rejˈnoso]; 3 December 1934 − 11 September 2021), also known by his nom de guerre Chairman Gonzalo (Spanish: Presidente Gonzalo), was a Peruvian Maoist guerrilla leader and terrorist. He founded the organization Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path (PCP-SL) in 1969 and led a rebellion against the Peruvian government until his capture by authorities in 12 September 1992. He was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorism and treason. In the 1960s and 1970s, Guzmán was a professor of philosophy active in far-left politics strongly influenced by Marxism, Leninism, and Maoism. He developed an ideology of armed struggle stressing the empowerment of the Indigenous people. He went underground in the mid-1970s to become the leader of the Shining Path, which began "The People's War" or the "Armed Struggle" on 17 May 1980.

Photo of Hilda Gadea

3. Hilda Gadea (1925 - 1974)

With an HPI of 61.17, Hilda Gadea is the 3rd most famous Peruvian Social Activist.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Hilda Gadea Acosta (21 March 1925 – 11 February 1974) was a Peruvian economist, Communist leader, and author. She was the first wife of Che Guevara. Gadea Acosta was Secretary of the Economy of the Executive National Committee for Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA, American Popular Revolutionary Alliance). Her activities in Peru led to her exile in 1948. She first met Guevara in Guatemala in December 1953. Gadea and Guevara moved to Mexico due to pressure from their politics. She introduced Guevara to several Cuban rebels. Gadea married Guevara in Mexico in September 1955, after learning she was pregnant. The marriage ended in a divorce in May 1959. They had a daughter named Hilda Beatriz "Hildita" Guevara Gadea in February 1956 who died of cancer in 1995.Following the Cuban Revolution, in which Guevara fought, Gadea came to Cuba, to be confronted with the announcement by Guevara that he had fallen in love with another woman, Aleida March, and requested a divorce. Gadea remained loyal to Guevara's political movement; she died in Havana in 1974. She wrote the memoir My Life With Che. Gabriel San Roman, a writer for Z Magazine, began writing a play about Gadea.

Pantheon has 3 people classified as social activists born between 1738 and 1934. Of these 3, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased social activists include Túpac Amaru II, Abimael Guzmán, and Hilda Gadea.

Deceased Social Activists

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Which Social Activists were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 3 most globally memorable Social Activists since 1700.