Deniz Gezmiş

Deniz Gezmiş
Born
Deniz Gezmiş

(1947-02-28)28 February 1947
Died6 May 1972(1972-05-06) (aged 25)
Cause of deathExecution
Alma materIstanbul University
Occupation(s)Militant, Student leader, Activist, Revolutionary
Years active1965-1972
OrganizationTHKO (1970-1972)
Political partyWorkers Party of Turkey
MovementMarxism–Leninism, Socialism, Guevarism, Communism
Parent(s)Cemil Gezmiş
Mukaddes Gezmiş

Deniz Gezmiş (Turkish pronunciation: [deˈniz ɟezˈmiʃ], 27 February 1947 – 6 May 1972) was a Turkish Marxist-Leninist revolutionary, student leader, and political activist in Turkey in the late 1960s. He was one of the founding members of the People's Liberation Army of Turkey (THKO).

He was born to an inspector of primary education and syndicalist Cemil Gezmiş and a primary school teacher Mukaddes Gezmiş. He was educated in various Turkish cities. He spent most of his childhood in Sivas, where his father grew up. He graduated from high school in Istanbul where he first encountered left wing ideas. Gezmiş and companions are considered by some as "Turkey's Che Guevara and compañeros".