9. Fidelito Castro got no help from his famous father as he made a name for himself as a top nuclear scientist
In 1959, Fidel Castro appeared on American television to talk about the aims of the Cuban Revolution, which had begun six years previously. Sitting beside the communist revolutionary was a nine-year-old boy, Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart. Known more commonly as Fidelito (or ‘Little Fidel’), he was Castro’s first son, born from his short-lived marriage to Mirta Diaz-Balart.
Young Fidelito had gone with his mother when she left for Miami following her divorce from Castro in 1955. However, he returned to his native Cuba a couple of years later. He remained on the island throughout his childhood and much of his adolescence, despite the fact his own mother and her family were vehemently opposed to Castro’s fledgling dictatorship. Unsurprisingly, Fidelito struggled to escape the shadow of his famous father, even when his own notable talents started to become apparent.
As a young man, Fidelito moved to Russia. Here, under an alias, he studied nuclear physics and excelled in the subject. With his Ph.D. in hand, he returned to Cuba and was soon leading the country’s nuclear program. However, a quarrel with his father saw the dictator remove him from this position. Castro even canceled funding for a planned new research facility his son was to set up. Upset, Fidelito moved back to Moscow to pursue a second doctorate.
In later life, Fidelito returned to his homeland. He was happy to serve his father’s regime in an official capacity. After Castro died in 2016, he was one of the Cubans who welcomed American delegations to the country. Fidelito died in February 2018. He killed himself after a long battle with depression. According to some observers, he would have been unable to seek help for his condition; the Castro regime would not allow the dictator’s own son to be seen as being weak in any way.