Biochemist and author of “Motorcycle Diaries”, Alberto Granado has died over the weekend in Cuba, according to to Cuba's official state media. He was 88.

Granado has become known as a travelling companion of leftist revolutionary, Ernesto “Che” Guevara and the one to pen their experiences during their motorcycle trip in the 1950s in a book which was later adapted for a film in 1994.

"In today's morning hours in the capital, comrade Alberto Granado, the close friend of commandante Ernest Guevara, died at age 88," the Agence France Presse said, citing a statement read by an announcer on state television.

The statement media also said that Granado’s body is now at a funeral home in Havana where it will be cremated. Granado, added the statement had wished that his ashes be spread across parts of Argentina, Cuba and Chile.

Granado, unlike his friend, Che, has lived a full-life since their eight-month adventure in the 1950s. The Argentine-born biochemist had lived in Cuba since 1961 and had been a great contribution to the communist country in the medical field.

The AFP said that Granado, already a medical practitioner before he set out on the roadtrip with Che, had trained professionals in medicine and genetics.

Granado had journeyed with Che in an eight-month odyssey that began when they left Buenos Aires in December 1951. With their famous motorcycle, the two traveled much of South America for months - - an experience that opened their eyes as they witnessed poverty of local communities, lack of access to medical care among the people and disenfranchisement of native people.

Unlike Granado, Guevara has become known as an internationalist guerrilla leader, tracked down and killed in Bolivian jungle on October 9, 1967.

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