Emiliano Zapata was born on Aug. 8, 1879, in Anenecuilco, Mexico
and died on April 10, 1919, in the state of Morelos, Mexico. He
was a Mexican revolutionary, champion of agrarianism, and fought
in guerrilla actions during and after the Mexican Revolution
(1911-17). Early career. Zapata was the son of a mestizo peasant
who trained and sold horses. He was orphaned at the age of 17
and had to look after his brothers and sisters. In 1897 he was
arrested because he took part in a protest by the peasants of
his village against the hacienda that had appropriated their
lands. After obtaining a pardon, he continued agitation among
the peasants, and so he was drafted into the army. He served for
six months, at which point he was discharged to a landowner to
train his horses. In 1909 his neighbors elected him president of
the board of defense for their village. After useless
negotiations with the landowners, Zapata and a group of peasants
occupied by force the land that had been appropriated by the
haciendas and distrib