The media all over the world met the news of the passing of Fidel Castro, on 25 November 2016, with extremely polarized commentaries on his legacy. This essay argues that historians in the future can contribute to a better understanding of those aspects and episodes of his long career as revolutionary and head of state that have made him such a controversial figure. At the same time, it appears that Fidel Castro fully belonged to the political left of the 20th century, as he constantly emphasized equality as the basis of all emancipation, and collective over individual subjects as far as instances of freedom were concerned. In that sense, polarized commentaries do not reflect misunderstandings about his life as much as diverging opinions on his politics.