Evita Peron

On 22 January 1944, she met Colonel Juan Peron who was twice her age, at a fundraising programme for earthquake victims. Within a short period, she became the Colonel’s mistress.

It is said that, when Juan was in prison, she organized a rally of thousands for his release from the prison. On 18 October, 1945, they got married in a civil ceremony. Later, they had a church wedding on 9 December, 1945.

She was suffering from cervical cancer for which she went through several surgeries. She passed away at the age of 33. She was granted a state funeral.

Evita Peron was born as Maria Eva Duarte de Peron. She was the youngest of five children of Juan Duarte and Juana Ibarguren. Her father, who already had a wife and family, was an affluent rancher from nearby Chivilcoy, Buenos Aires.

She spent her childhood in Junin, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. When she was barely a year old, her father returned back to his legal wife. Poverty-stricken Juana Ibarguren and her children had to move to the poorest area of Jurin where Juana earned her livelihood by doing needlework.

Initially, they used to live in a one-room apartment there. Later, they shifted to a bigger house. At that time, Evita developed an interest towards acting by participating in school plays and concerts.

In October 1933, she acted in her school play ‘Students Arise’. After playing this small role, she contemplated about pursuing a career in acting and dreamt of becoming a great and successful actress.

In 1934, she escaped to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, to fulfil her dream of becoming a successful actress. After reaching the capital, she faced lots of difficulties due to lack of formal education and connections.

In Buenos Aires, her debut performance on stage was in the play ‘The Perezes Misses’ at the Comedias Theatre on 28 March 1935. In 1936, she went on a national tour with a theatre company.

She also worked as a model and got offer of acting in a few B-grade films. The turning point of her career came when she got the offer of a daily role in a radio drama titled ‘Muy bien’, broadcast on World Radio.

Later, she signed a five year contract with Radio Belgrano to act as Elizabeth I of England, Sarah Bernhardt and the last Tsarina of Russia in ‘Great Women of History’, a historical-drama program.

At that time, she even became the co-owner of the radio company. Apart from that, she also acted in a few movies which did not receive much success. By 1943, she became one of the highest paid radio actresses in the country.

In the same year, she began her career in politics as one of the founders of the Argentine Radio Syndicate. In 1944, she was selected as the President of the broadcast performers’ union.

As a model, she was in relationship with a number of men. She used some of these men to achieve her modelling assignments. She earned severe criticism for her exploitative mentality towards these men.