Salvador Allende Gossens ( June 26 , 1908 -- September 11 , 1973 ) was a physician , senator , minister of health and the President of Chile from November 3 , 1970 until his death on September 11 , 1973 . Salvador Isabelino del Sagrado CorazÃ n de JesÃ s Allende Gossens ( ; 26 June 1908 â `` 11 September 1973 ) was a Chilean physician and is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in the Americas .