Evita Duarte de Peron

Controversial is certainly a word many would use for Evita.  Cherished is another.  From poverty to fame, she became the voice of those in the lower class who struggled to be heard.  Some say she improperly used her position with Peron to gain power.  Others say she found a way to lead at a time when women simply did not.  

Maria Eva Ibarguren was born on May 7, 1919 near the village of Lost Toledo’s in the Province of Buenos Aires.

• Evita was the fifth child of Juana Ibarguren and her lover, Juan Duarte,  At that time, women were considered a commodity – part of a man’s material possessions.  Despite the expectation that a man would have a wife and a mistress, a woman could not get a divorce. 
• Being born out of wedlock, Eva and her siblings were ostracized by other children.
• Following the death of her father, Eva worked as a cook in the homes of local persons of some wealth.   
• Just following her fifteenth birthday, she met a tango singer at a local theater.  The next night, he drove her to Buenos Aires. 
• She continued working as an actress, struggling to make ends meet. Her persistence getting jobs is documented.  
• While in her twenties, a wealthy soap manufacturer fell in love with her; she became a voice of radio because of him.  My Kingdom of Love was one of many soap operas for which she took part on the radio. 

• She met Juan Domingo Peron at a fund-raising event she helped coordinate after the 1944 earthquake in San Juan.  Although 48 when they met, many commonalities resonated between them, including upbringing and determination. Peron became the guiding mind behind the Argentinian president who assumed the role after the military coup of 1943.  
• She became his mistress in Argentina.  She also decided to keep his interests by helping him remain in power.  He moved into an apartment next to the one Eva rented, and the presidential cabinet members caucused there.  Eva became involved in these meetings.  Eva suggested that he become the leader of Argentina, giving all a say in how the country should be run.  
• Having allied themselves with Nazi Germany, Eva and Peron found themselves on the wrong side of the war in 1945.  Democracy swelled within the people.  Peron resigned from his position as VP, Minister of War and Secretary of Labour and Welfare.  Evita summoned those in military rank who owed their careers to Peron.  She then coordinated an impromptu speech for Peron that was broadcast throughout Argentina where he told the working class that he would champion their cause.  Those officers not in Peron’s camp bristled at this speech.  Shortly thereafter, they arrested Peron, an act that propelled Eva to rally the working class.  Eventually, Peron was released in an attempt to assuage the uprising against the military by the people.  
• Peron married Eva in a civil ceremony in October, and a church ceremony on December 9, 1945.  
• With Evita’s help, he campaigned for the presidency, the first democratic election in 16 years.  Jose Tamborini, Peron’s opponent, could not overcome the energy Peron inspired. Peron took office on June 4, 1946 for a six-year term.  
• Evita changed the role of women in business.  From the moment her husband took office, she worked to improve Argentina. Receiving delegations of workers in her office to discuss wage increases, visits to factories, schools, slum neighborhoods, she improved relations with those in the work force.
• To some, she became known as the Dama de la Esperanza, the Lady of Hope.  
• In her first public remarks in Rome, to an audience of 600 women, she said: “I have a name that has become a battle-cry throughout the world. I want to say that women have the same duties as men and therefore should have the same rights…”

---