Eva Perón
1919-1952
BY: JENNIFER ARAUJO
JOCELYN DE LA O
JULIA JACKSON
EMILY OLEARCZYK
Don’t Cry For Me Argentina
 The Life and political
career of Eva Perón,
Argentina’s first lady,
women's right activist,
actress, political leader,
and Evita
Early life
 Born María Eva Duarte on May 7th
1919 in Los Todos, Argentina
 Her mother was Juana Ibarguren
 Her father, Juan Duarte, was a
wealthy rancher in Chivilcoy, where
he already had a wife and family
 He abandoned Eva and her 4 siblings
when she was 1 year old
 Eva was a part of the “second family”
 Considered bastards and lived an
isolated life
The Death Of Her Father
 January 8, 1926 her father is killed in a car crash
 During the funeral, they could pay respects but were not
allowed to stay
 Mrs. Juan Duarte (His legitimate wife) did not want her
husbands mistress and family to attend the funeral so they
were promptly kicked out
 This bitter memory caused her to destroy her original birth
certificate as means to destroy that from her past in 1945
Move to Junín, Argentina
 She and her family move into a 1 bedroom apartment in Junín
 To pay rent they all got odd jobs and turned the home into a boarding home

Her mother was a seamstress and cook
 Eva participates in many school plays like, Arriba Estudiantes, or Students Arise!
 Her mother wanted her to marry a bachelor, Eva wanted to become a famous
actress
 In her autobiography she states, “Even as a little girl I wanted to recite. It was
as though I wished to say something to others, something important which I
felt in my deepest heart” (The Reason for My Life)
 While in Junín her voice was broadcasted for the first time over the radio on
House of Music
Off To Buenos Aires!
 At 15, she moves to Buenos Aires to pursue
her career
 Traveled around with a theatre company
and modeled
 1937: first film role in Segundos Afuera, got
a contract to perform over radio
 1942: 5 year contract to perform with Radio
Belgrano
 Great Women of History
 Elizabeth I of England, last Tsarina of
Russia
 One of the highest paid radio-actresses
 Short lived acting career, moves to politics
First Beginnings With Juan Perón
 January 15, 1944 an earthquake kills over 10,000

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people in San Juan
Secretary of Labor, Perón begins a fundraiser, an
“artistic festival” where all of Argentina’s radio and
TV personalities were invited.
January 22, 1944 a gala was held at Luna Park
Stadium where Eva and Juan first meet.
 She was 24, he was 48
May 1944, she was chosen as president for
Agrupación Radial Argentina, a union which she
founded a year earlier
She spoke on behalf of Juan on her radio talk show,
Toward a Better future
 She spoke of her humble upbringing which helped
appeal to the poor working classes
When he was arrested, she supposedly gathered
thousands to help free him on October 17
They were married that December
Argentina
 Elite and military supported government
 1930’s import substitution industrialization →
working class doubled

Female wage labor force 62% increase
 Tensions between elite
and rest of Argentina
(European immigrants
drawn in from early
1990s strong economy,
middle class, working
class, rural people)
Argentina & Peronism
 Peronism/justicialismo: political
movement based on Juan and
Eva Peron’s ideas/programs

Capitalist-socialist median
 Juan Perón presidency 1946
 Populist government

National appeal to public sectors
 Elite disapproval → political
advantage
 “Voice of the descamisados” (the
shirtless ones; Argentine
workers)
Eva Peron & Evita
 “I have no interest in talking about Eva Peron…I am interested in
talking about "Evita;“…because whoever understands "Evita“
perhaps also grasps more easily her "descamisados,” the people
themselves, who will never aggrandize themselves”
 Supported women’s right to vote
 Latin American feminism
 Evita, wife of the leader
 Pride in being woman

Feminism has become ridiculous and masculinization of females
Eva Peron vs. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
 Popularity of her husband,
President Nestor Kirchner
 Peronist party
 Kirchner 2007 presidency
 Both women greatly
involved in husbands’
politics
Peron’s Mission For Women
 Profession as women – to create
 Family home
 Vocation to sacrifice
 Right to create, alongside man, a better humanity
 Mother of family work for no salary
 concern: women’s movement should focus on
improving lives through the home → should give
monthly salary to wives/mothers
 Eva’s monthly salary idea was one of many molded
around her followers
How It All Began…
 Peron as Secretary of Labor from 1943-1945

“Perón-People”
 Eva began to find ways to meet the needs of the
people who crowded the sidewalks outside her
house.

Labor unions contribute
 Europe
Eva Perón Foundation
 On June 19, 1948, the María Eva Duarte Social Help
Foundation was established
The Foundation had five goals:
1.
Loan money, provide tools, establish scholarships
for deserving people who lack resources
2.
Construct housing for needy families
3.
Construct educational establishments, hospitals,
recreational facilities
4.
Construct buildings for the common good which can
be transferred with or without charge to National,
Provincial or Municipal governments
5.
Contribute or collaborate by any means available to
realization of works constructed for the common
good which help meet basic needs of least favored
social classes.
Hogares de Transito
 In 1948, the Fundación
opened three Hogares de
Tránsito
 3 Hogares
 Residents stayed for an
average of about eight
days
 Open to anyone who
needed assistance
Foreign Aid To AMERICA
 “This plane that will soon arrive in the United States represents
the kindness of our leader and what we are capable of doing for
the dispossessed, no matter where they are,” Evita wrote.
 “May this action and this aid which we offer with all respect and
affection to the great people of the United States serve as an
example as we humbly send them our little grain of sand to
help.”
Education
 The Foundation set up a plan for
the construction of one thousand
schools throughout Argentina
 Agricultural schools, workshops,
Nursery schools and daycare
centers
 Eva Peron School of Nursing
 Earthquake struck Ecuador.
Medical personnel from the Eva
Peron Foundation flew to the
neighboring country to help
Later Life
 Eva’s husband, Juan Peron sought re-
election in 1952 and Eva hoped that his
running mate would be her
 The working class of Argentina was
overwhelmingly in favor of her becoming
the Vice-President, although the military
and upper class were aghast at the thought
of her running the nation if her husband
died
 In 1951, hundreds of thousands of people
rallied in support of her, however she
eventually decided not to become her
husband’s running mate
Death

In 1950, Eva was diagnosed with uterine cancer
 Her illness couldn’t have been stopped even
through aggressive treatment like hysterectomy
 She passed away on July 26, 1952 at the age of 33
years old
Remains Of Evita’s Body
 Eva’s remains were mummified
by her fluids being replaced with
glycerin
 When Juan Peron died in 1974,
their bodies were displayed sideby-side for a while until Eva was
sent to her current home,
Recoleta Cemetary in Buenos
Aires
Evita’s Legacy
 The Eva Peron Foundation
 Established a School of Nursing
 Children’s Homes
 Hogares de Transito
 Women’s Rights
Museum
 On July 26, 2002, Eva’s grandniece
Christina Alvarez Rodriguez created
the Evita Musuem in Buenos Aires
which is housed in a mansion
constructed for the Carabassa family
 This building was declared a National
Historical Monument in 1999
Overall
 Based on what we know about Latin America, did her
skin color and background play a major role in the
election of her husband?
 What influence did Eva have in the lives of Argentine
women and working class?
 What and who encompassed Eva Peron’s support
coalition?
Sources
 http://comunicacionpopular.com.ar/el-dia-que-eva-
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peron-ayudo-a-los-ninos-pobres-y-negros-dewashington/
http://www.evitaperon.org
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america18707516
O’conner and Garofalo’s Eva Peron’s Views On Women
and Society in Argentina
http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/historyofso
uthamerica/a/evita_3.htm
http://www.evitaperon.org/part3.htm