Pancho Villa

Mexican revolutionary (1878-1923)

Fame61.3
Momentum0.4
Mexico rank#104

Source-basedStable

Fame61.3
Momentum0.4
Mexico rank#104
Activists rank#55
Wikipedia91.2K

Lived 1878–1923, aged 45Mexico

Mexico ActivistsActivist

Wikipedia
66 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in Mexico
#104
Activists
Era
1878–1923
Aged 45
Known for
Memories of a Mexican
1950

Summary

Updated 2026-06-21

He led armies, governed a state, raided New Mexico to bait the U.S. into an invasion it couldn't win, and starred as himself in Hollywood — all while the revolution he helped ignite tore Mexico apart and remade it.

Biography

About

Born José Doroteo Arango Arámbula in 1878, Villa became a guerrilla leader who helped topple the dictator Porfirio Díaz and install Francisco I. Madero in 1911. When a coup ousted Madero in 1913, Villa joined the Constitutionalist Army against Victoriano Huerta, then broke with Carranza after Huerta's defeat, forming an alliance with Emiliano Zapata and briefly serving as provisional governor of Chihuahua. At his peak in late 1914 the U.S. weighed recognizing him as Mexico's legitimate president, but by summer 1915 he'd been crushed by General Álvaro Obregón, his army dissolving for lack of pa…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Pancho Villa

Pancho Villa

saidundated

Men will not forget that Pancho Villa was loyal to the cause of the people.

— As quoted in Pancho Villa: Rebel of the Mexican Revolution (2006) by Mary Englar

Pancho Villa

saidundated

The country must be governed by someone who really loves his people and his land, who shares wealth and progress. I have all that, only that I am ignorant.

Pancho Villa

saidundated