Eva Perón served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She used her position to fight for women’s suffrage and improving the lives of the poor, becoming a legendary figure in Argentine politics. She is commonly known as ‘Evita’.
Perón was born María Eva Duarte on May 7, 1919, in Los Toldos, Argentina. She grew up poor, dreaming of becoming an actress. At 16 she left school and moved to Buenos Aires to follow her dream. She worked in a few theatre companies before landing her first film role in Segundos Afuera, she also got a contract to perform on the radio. Perón continued to work in stage productions for a few years before, at 20 years old, she started her own entertainment business, the Company of the Theater of the Air, which produced radio programs. In 1943 she was given the chance to play famous women in history on a special radio series, she portrayed Queen Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great amongst others.
In 1944 an earthquake hit the town of San Juan, Argentina, killing some 10,000 people. Juan Perón, who was then the Secretary of Labour and Social Welfare organised a fund to raise money to aid the victims, he planned an “artistic festival” to raise funds and invited radio and film actors to participate in a week of events that culminated in a gala held at Luna Park Stadium in Buenos Aires. Duarte was in attendance and after meeting Perón she became his mistress.
Perón had ambitions to become president and was working with the Argentine workers to support his bid. Duarte was able to help win public support for her partner, she was the president of the union of radio broadcast performers and used her position to create a daily program called ‘Toward a Better Future’ which dramatized the accomplishments of Juan Perón. Perón’s speeches were also played during the program. Duarte’s ability to speak as a regular woman who genuinely wanted her listeners to believe in Juan Perón as she did proved hugely successful for Perón.
In October 1945 Perón was arrested due to fears that who feared that due to the strong support of the descamisados, the workers and the poor of the nation, Perón’s popularity might eclipse that of the sitting president. Six days later between 250,000 and 350,000 people protested outside Argentina’s government house, Casa Rosada demanding the release of Juan Perón. At 11 pm their wish was granted and Juan Perón stepped on to the balcony of the Casa Rosada to address the crowd. The day after Duarte and Perón were married.
In 1946 Perón became president of Argentina and Eva Perón his first lady. Evita had campaigned beside her husband, her ability to understand the plight of the disadvantaged groups in Argentina due to her own background was influential in gaining support of the public. Evita used her position to fight for the causes she belived in, she fought to improve the lives of the poor through supporting higher wages and greated social welfare benefits, unofficially performing the duties of the Secretary of Labour.
Evita had a high public profile, she visited factories and hospitals and took an active interest in health policy. She supervised programmes to eradicate diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and leprosy. In 1947 she set up the Maria Eva Duarte De Peron Welfare Foundation. The foundation distributed money, food and medicine to those most in need, the program was popular with the poor but far less popular with the elite who gave ‘contributions’, many against their will. The foundation employed 14,000 workers, of whom 6,000 were construction workers, and 26 priests. It purchased and distributed 400,000 pairs of shoes, 500,000 sewing machines, 200,000 cooking pots annually. The foundation also gave scholarships, built homes, hospitals, and other charitable institutions as well entire communuities, like Evita City. For the first time in history there was no inequality in Argentine health care.
Evita also campaigned for women’s suffrage, in 1947 women were given the vote, largely due to the energy and soul that Evita poured into the campaign. She also founded the Female Peronist Party, the first large female political party in the nation. She became a legendary figure in Argentine politics, she was a skilled speaker and adored by the poor citizens she worked so hard to help. She worked 20 to 22 hours per day in her foundation, despite her husband’s pleas to cut back and take weekends off. The more she worked to aid the poor the more angry she got at the existence of poverty.
In 1951 Evita announced that she would be standing for vice-president in the election, on the same ticket as her husband. She faced opposition from the military but was backed by the working class, the unions, and the Peronist Women’s Party. She was unable to run for vice president due to ill health and in 1952 she died of cervical cancer. The government suspended all official activities for two days and all flags were flown at half-staff for ten days. The crowd of mourners outside the presidential residence grew to fill the streets for ten blocks in each direction. The streets of Buenos Aires overflowered with huge piles of flowers and a day after her death flowers had to be flown in from all over the country after selling out in all the flower shops in Buenos Aires.
Nearly three million people attended her funeral and for the following two weeks, mourners lined up waiting for hours to see her body in the Ministry of Labour. She was eventually given a state funeral usually reserved for a head of state. Evita has been the subject of many books, films and plays including the hit musical Evita written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber and the later 1996 film version with Madonna playing Perón.