Here she is. Eva Perón. More affectionately referred to as Evita. No, she was not a natural blonde, but there is no denying how beautiful this woman was. She wasn't technically a political leader. Just the first lady for Juan Perón. However, what she meant to the people of Argentina is incredible.
She came from a less than middle class family. Tainted by the fact she was born out of wedlock. At the age of 15 she decided to move to Buenos Aires to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. Well, she was no Madonna, that is for sure. During her time in BA she got involved with a lot of charity work and eventually she met her future husband, Juan Perón, at a fundraiser. They got married and a short while later he won his first presidency of Argentina in 1946.
It was during his presidency that the Argentine love for Evita formed. They did a lot for the working class. Most of it was from her influence too. She started a foundation that built houses, schools, orphanages and hospitals. The foundation even purchased necessities such as shoes, kitchenware and sewing machines and handed them out to those in need. She worked in the women's suffrage to help get them the right to vote (This also helped her husband in the polls. If you're the president who finally gives women the right to vote, of course you just gained support from the entire female population regardless of class.) Evita was a light to the poor. She made sure that those in need received some kind of assistance. Nothing was too much. During Christmas Juan and Evita would personally hand out presents to children. The rest of the year she would spend hours of the day meeting with the citizens. She would hug and kiss them and wish them well. This courtesy was even extended to lepers.
People idolized this woman and called her Saint Evita. They thought she had the power to heal and bless people. The philosophy was that if she looked at you even for a milisecond, it means she thought about you momentarily. That miniscule thought counted and because of it you were eternally blessed. Women everywhere were copying her style. They bleached their hair and would copy her clothing.
Now, every liked person doesn't go without their opposition. Many of the rich people hated her. They didn't like she wasn't born into the elites, her scandalous past as an actress or that she spent some much money helping the poor. As far as I can tell though she was liked a lot more than she was hated. I mean, I did get most of this information from El Museo Evita after all.
However, all good things come to a close. She died in 1952 at the age of 33 to cancer. It was at the peak of her fame too. The people mourned for a very long time. Losing Evita was felt everywhere.
Now, after her death things involving Evita were still very interesting. Her body was embalmed and put on display while plans to build a national monument in her honor were underway. A few years later a military coup took over, Juan fled to Europe, her body was left on display and stolen by the military coup. For sixteen years no one knew what happened. It was later revealed they had sent her body to Milan and buried it under and alias. Eventually her body was returned to Juan where he was living in Spain. He went back to Argentina leaving her body in Spain. He won the presidency again and died in office. It was his new wife, Isabel, who was serving as VP and thus took over his term who finally brought the body of Eva Perón back to Argentina.
She now rests in one of the ritziest cemetaries in the city, el Cemetario Recoleta. It is filled with a lot of above ground tombs and is the final resting place for lots of the most famous names in Argentine history. To this day people still visit her tomb. It not only is the most popular grave to visit, but flowers are still left in her honor.
¡Besos!
La porteña Emilia
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