Passion or Profession: Revolutionary

Period: 1879–1919

Emiliano Zapata grew up in an area where many of the indigenous inhabitants had been marginalized by wealthy landowners. Although Zapata was of mixed Spanish and indigenous background, he soon began fighting for indigenous rights. He went on to help overthrow the government of Porfirio Diaz in the Mexican Revolution. A modern group of indigenous revolutionaries take their name from him.