Fidel Castro: Portrait of a revolutionary icon

By : Editor

Date: 26 November 2016 12:07pm WAT

FILES-CUBA-POLITICS-GOVERNMENT-CASTRO — (FILES) This file handout picture released by Cuban Agency ACN taken on April 19, 2016 shows Cuban Former President Fidel Castro applauding during the closing ceremony of VII Congress of Cuban Communist Party (PCC) at Convention Palace in Havana. Fidel Castro died on November 26, 2016 according to a statement from the President of Cuba, Raul Castro. / AFP PHOTO / ACN / OMARA GARCIA MEDEROS

(FILES) This file handout picture released by Cuban Agency ACN taken on April 19, 2016 shows Cuban Former President Fidel Castro applauding during the closing ceremony of VII Congress of Cuban Communist Party (PCC) at Convention Palace in Havana. Fidel Castro died on November 26, 2016 according to a statement from the President of Cuba, Raul Castro. / AFP PHOTO / ACN / OMARA GARCIA MEDEROS

(FILES) This file photo taken on January 8, 1959 shows Cuban rebel leaders Fidel Castro (R) and Camilo Cienfuegos (L) entering Havana after the victory over the forces of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. AFP PHOTO / PRENSA LATINA / –

(FILES) This file photo taken on may 1963 shows Cuban First Secretary of the Cuban Communist party and President of the State Council Fidel Castro(L) and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev during a four-week official visit to Moscow. AFP PHOTO / TASS / –

Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who has died aged 90, pictured in the 1960s next to Ernesto Che Guevara in Havana, was legendary for his long-winded political rants. PHOTO: AFP

(FILES) This file photo taken on September 1973 shows Cuban First Secretary of the Cuban Communist party and President of the State Council Fidel Castro (C) holding a flag during his visit in South Vietnam during the Vietnam war. AFP PHOTO / AVI / –

(FILES) This file photo taken on February 26, 1998 shows Cuban President Fidel Castro standing at attention during the funeral of Manuel Pineiro, alias “Barba Roja,” in Havana after the retired point man with guerrilla groups in Latin America was killed in a traffic accident. AFP PHOTO / ADALBERTO ROQUE

(FILES) This file photo taken on July 21, 1998 shows Cuban President Fidel Castro pointing to the exit door of the Cuban parliament as he addresses foreign press correspondents working in Cuba 21 July accusing them of “discrediting socialism, demoralizing the Cuban revolution by using lies and schemes of all sort” during the parliament’s opening session in Havana. AFP PHOTO / ADALBERTO ROQUE

(FILES) In this file picture, late Cuban president Fidel Castro (L) calls for time as former US president Jimmy Carter prepares to throw the first pitch in a baseball game in Havana. PHOTO: AFP Photo/Adalberto Roque

(FILES) This file photo taken on December 22, 2005 shows Cuban President Fidel Castro speaking during the 6th Session of the Cuban Parliament at the Conventions Palace in Havana. Cuban revolutionary icon Fidel Castro died late on November 25, 2016 in Havana, his brother, President Raul Castro, announced on national television. / AFP PHOTO / Antonio LEVI

(FILES) This file handout picture released by Cuban Agency ACN taken on April 19, 2016 shows Cuban Former President Fidel Castro applauding during the closing ceremony of VII Congress of Cuban Communist Party (PCC) at Convention Palace in Havana. Fidel Castro died on November 26, 2016 according to a statement from the President of Cuba, Raul Castro. / AFP PHOTO / ACN / OMARA GARCIA MEDEROS

(FILES) This file handout picture released on Cuba Debate website taken on May 11, 2015 shows French President Francois Hollande (L) posing for a picture with Cuban historical leader Fidel Castro during a meeting in Havana. AFP PHOTO / Cuba Debate / ALEX CASTRO

(FILES) This file handout picture released by the Cuban website www.cubadebate.cu taken on August 13, 2016 shows former Cuban President Fidel Castro (C), sitting next to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (R), is seen attending the celebration of his 90th birthday at Karl Marx theatre in Havana. AFP PHOTO / Ismael Francisco

(FILES) This file photo handout picture released by Cuban newspaper Granmataken on September 22, 2016 shows former President Fidel Castro (R) is seen during a meeting with Japanese Prime Ministro Shinzo Abe (L), in Havana on September 22, 2016. AFP PHOTO / GRANMA / ALEX CASTRO / XGTY

His long-winded political rants were legendary. But Fidel Castro also loved burning the midnight oil, the written word, and, ironically, the sport that unites Cuba and its US foe: baseball.

Castro squeezed the maximum out of his 90 years which ended when he died late Friday, getting by on snatched rest, sustained by the passion of his interests and the revolution he nurtured for nearly half a century.

See the gallery above for some of the iconic moments in the life of late Cuban revolutionary icon.