Luís Carlos Prestes was a Brazilian revolutionary and politician who served as the General-Secretary of the Brazilian Communist Party from 1943 to 1980 and a Senator for the Federal District from 1946 to 1948. One of the leading Communists in Brazil, Prestes has been regarded by many as one of Brazil's most charismatic yet tragic figures for his leadership of the 1924 tenente revolt and his subsequent work with the Brazilian Communist movement. The 1924 expedition earned Prestes the nickname The Knight of Hope.
Beginning in 1924, as a young army officer, Prestes was a leading figure in an abortive military revolt. After its failure, he led a band of rebel troops, known as the Prestes Column, on a three-year, 14,000-mile trek through the remote Brazilian interior in a futile attempt to stir peasant opposition to the Government. Eventually, the rebels went into exile in Bolivia. Although the effort failed, he became a romantic hero.
He went on to become general-secretary of the Brazilian Communist Party, which advocated ending payments on the national debt, nationalization of foreign-owned companies, and land reform.