Born May 18, 1895, in Ni-quinohomo, Masaya Department; died Feb. 21, 1934, in Managua. National hero of the Nicaraguan people. General (1926). Son of a peasant.

Sandino changed his occupation many times, and in search of work he left his native land. He worked in mines in Honduras and Guatemala and in oil fields in Mexico. Upon returning to his homeland in 1926, he joined the national liberation struggle against the American imperialists and reactionary forces within the country. The partisan struggle that he led in mid-1927 against the US troops that were occupying Nicaragua grew into a civil war, and led to the liberation of the country from the occupation forces in January 1933. In February 1934, Sandino, who had been summoned to Managua for official talks with the government on ending the civil war, was treacherously killed.