Ariel Sharon briefs his unit before an operation in Khan Younis, Aug. 30, 1955.

Sharon was born to Russian immigrant parents on Feb. 26, 1928, in the small farming community of Kfar Malal, north of Tel Aviv. He joined the Haganah, the pre-state Jewish defense force, at 14 and later went on to command an infantry platoon during the 1948 Mideast war over Israel's creation. He was seriously wounded in battle with the Jordanian Legion over control of the road to Jerusalem.

By 1953 he was commanding Unit 101, a commando force formed to carry out reprisals for Arab attacks.

Ariel Sharon, standing second left, poses with military commanders including Moshe Dayan, center, Oct. 28, 1955.

In 1956 Sharon was rebuked for engaging in what his commanders regarded as an unnecessary battle with Egyptian forces in which some 30 Israeli soldiers died. But he was also praised for military successes, such as his daring assault across the Suez Canal during the 1973 Mideast War.

Israeli army colonel Ariel Sharon, Feb. 16, 1966.

Maj. Gen. Ariel Sharon is shown May 29, 1967, shortly before the 1967 Middle East War. 

Brig. Gen. Ariel Sharon, foreground left, stands with then-Israeli Minister without Portfolio Menachem Begin, on the Southern Front of the Six Day war in the Sinai Desert, June 16, 1967.

Former Prime Minister David Ben Gurion with Chief of Staff Haim Bar Lev, right, and Operational Commander of Southern Command Ariel Sharon, left, tour Israeli Defense Force posts on the Egyptian border, along the Suez Canal, January 1971.

Israeli Major General in the Reserves Ariel Sharon smiles near the Suez Canal, then occupied by Israel, Oct.31, 1973.

Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin speaks with Israeli Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon (right) in the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Aug. 9, 1977.

Then-Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, foreground, rides an armored personnel carrier on a tour of Israeli units advancing to the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 15, 1982, during Israeli occupation.

Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon (right) talks to Prime Minister Menahem Begin in Tel Aviv in this 1981 photo.

Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, left, talks with Israeli troops on his visit during the Israeli occupation in East Beirut, Lebanon, July 2, 1982.

Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, center, talks to troops during a tour of Israeli units surrounding the Palestine Liberation Organization enclave in West Beirut, Lebanon, July 6, 1982, during the Israeli occupation.

Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin (left) raises his hand as the Knesset votes to remove Ariel Sharon (center) as Defense minister, Feb. 14, 1983.  Other cabinet members pictured: Home Minister Josef Burg (second left), deputy prime minister David Levy, and finance minister Yoram Aridor (second right). 

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (left) greets Israeli Minister of Industry and Trade Ariel Sharon during a reception in honor of Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, in Jerusalem, May 26, 1986.

Ariel Sharon in 1996.

Israeli Foreign Minister-designate Ariel Sharon takes a ride on a mini-tractor on his ranch in southern Israel with his wife Lily and one of his grandchildren, Oct. 9, 1998.

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright speaks to reporters as Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon looks on during a press conference at the State Department in Washington, D.C., December 7, 1998. The two discussed the current Middle East situation and President Bill Clinton's upcoming trip to Gaza during breakfast meetings.

Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon (left) reviews a map of Israel and the West Bank with Texas Governor George Bush, before boarding a helicopter at Ben Gurion Airport for a overview flight to the north over Israel and the West Bank, Dec. 1, 1998.

Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon (right) in a helicopter as he escorts Texas Governor George Bush (left) and Governor Mike Leavitt of Utah on a tour over Israel and the West Bank territories, Dec. 1, 1998. 

Ariel Sharon, then Israel's Prime Minister-elect, looks up as he touches Judaism's holiest site, the Western Wall, in Jerusalem Feb. 7, 2001. 

President George W. Bush meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon March 20, 2001 in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. Sharon was on his first trip to the United States as Israel's prime minister.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon addresses the media at the weekly cabinet meeting in his office, in Jerusalem, Jan. 12, 2003.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, left, U.S. President George W. Bush, center, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, at a 2003 joint news conference at the Royal Palace in Aqaba, Jordan.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon speaks prior to the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Nov. 28, 2004.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pauses during a special session in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, about his government's proposed "disengangement plan" in Jerusalem, Oct. 26, 2004.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon lights a menorah with rabbis and youths during a Hanukkah celebration at his office in Tel Aviv, Israel, Dec. 14 2004.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, second right, surrounded by bodyguards, arrives to the Israeli parliament or Knesset for a session, Nov. 23, 2005.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (left) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice before their meeting in Jerusalem, Nov. 14, 2005.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pauses during the weekly cabinet meeting in his Jerusalem office, Jan. 30, 2005. 

Israeli right-wing opposition leader Ariel Sharon is pictured at the Likud Party headquarters in Tel Aviv in January 2001, just days before his election as prime minister.

The life and career of the man Israelis called "Arik" will be remembered for its three distinct stages: his eventful and controversial time in uniform, his years as a vociferous political operator who helped create Israel's settlement movement and mastermind of the Lebanon invasion, then his successful term as a pragmatist prime minister, capped by a dramatic withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and curtailed at the height of his popularity by his sudden stroke.

Sharon died on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014, at the age of 85.