Civil Rights leader Lawrence Guyot has died at the age of 73.

According to the Huffington Post, Guyot had history of heart problems and suffered from diabetes.

Guyot worked for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and directed the famed 1964 Freedom Summer Project.

He was a staunch voting rights advocate until his death.

From the Huffington Post:

Guyot was severely beaten several times, including at the notorious Mississippi State Penitentiary known as Parchman Farm. He continued to speak on voting rights until his death, including encouraging people to cast ballots for President Barack Obama.

“He was a civil rights field worker right up to the end,” Guyot-Diangone said.

Guyot participated in the 40th anniversary of the Freedom Summer Project to make sure a new generation could learn about the civil rights movement.

“There is nothing like having risked your life with people over something immensely important to you,” he told The Clarion-Ledger in 2004. “As Churchill said, there’s nothing more exhilarating than to have been shot at – and missed.”

Read more about Lawrence Guyot’s life and work at HuffingtonPost.com

R.I.P. Lawrence Guyot