Top 15 Facts about First Lady of Argentina Eva Peron

By Annemarie Heinrich – Wikimedia

Top 15 Facts about First Lady of Argentina Eva Peron

*Originally Published by Lilian on April 2021 and Updated by Vanessa on May 2023

Eva Peron, also fondly known as Evita, was an influential politician in Argentina. She was married to president Juan Peron.

She was born on May 7, 1919, in Los Toldos, Argentina. She grew up in a poor family but rose to prominence when she became the first lady.

Eva Perón had three siblings. When she turned 15, she moved to Buenos Aires to pursue her acting passion. She inspired a Broadway musical Evita that starred Madonna.

During her time as the first lady, She enacted a number of reforms and policies to the benefit of those in the lower economic class. She also helped bring about the passage of Argentina’s women’s right to vote.

There is more about Eva Peron. Read more here in the top 15 facts. 

1. Eva Peron was considered to be an illegitimate child

Photo sourced from Wikimedia

Eva’s parents were not married. He had a first wife to whom he returned to, abandoning Eva and her siblings. Her father was a wealthy farmer.

Since Eva’s mother was the second wife, her children were considered to be legally illegitimate. Her husband left them in the village with nothing.

When Eva was 6 years old, her father died in 1926. They did not attend the funeral but were able to pay their final respect.  

Her mother moved them to Junin, Argentina. Later on, Eva moved to Buenos Aires where she performed radio acts.

2. Eva’s father was wealthy

Juan Duarte was a wealthy farmer who had two wives. It was common for wealthy men to marry many women in Argentina at that time.

Even though he did not live with them, Eva’s mother kept the name Duarte for herself and her children.

When Eva was one, her father left the village and went to be with his first wife. They were left with nothing despite her father having been wealthy.

Her mother did odd jobs like sewing clothes for her neighbours to put food on the table.

3. Eva Peron did not grow up with her father in the picture

Eva was only a toddler when her father left. She had no memories of him but his absence was felt.

They lived in poverty after her father abandoned them. Her mom moved the family to a low-income neighbourhood, Junin, where she mended clothes to earn a living.

Eva and her siblings had to endure unpleasant comments from their neighbours because of their illegitimate status according to Argentinian law.

4. She became an actress as a teenager

By Carlos Rinaldi – Wikimedia

Eva set off by herself at the age of 15 to start her acting career in Buenos Aires. She went to the city with her first love, Augustin Magaldi, who was a tango singer.  

It was not easy for her to make it in the city since she was not well educated.

Eventually, Eva became the co-owner of a radio company. She was also one of the highest-paid radio actresses in the country.

In 1943, she was one of the founders of the Argentine Radio Syndicate. Eva achieved major financial success with her radio show on Radio Belgrano.

5. Eva was a successful radio actress

Other than working as an actress on stage, Eva was a successful radio actress too. Eva also modelled and she became financially stable.

Her talent earned her recognition and contracts with one of the leading radio stations in Argentina. Eva also got the opportunity to play a role in the historical drama Great Women of History in 1942.

She went on to be one of the highest-paid radio actresses in the country in 1943.  Some of the films that she featured in are The Circus Cavalcade and Libertad Lamarque.

6. The earth literally shook when she met her husband

By Wikimedia

In January 1944, an earthquake shook San Juan. More than 10,000 people lost their lives.

The military colonel, Juan Peron, who headed the Ministry of Labour organized a fundraiser to help those greatly affected by the earthquake.

Eva, then a popular actress and radio host, was invited to the fundraiser. Little did Eva know that she was going to meet her future husband.

The age difference between them did not stop their love. They got married in 1945.

7. She was very influential as a first lady

By Iberia Airlines – Wikimedia

Soon after marrying Juan Perón, Eva’s life changed. Juan was voted in as the president of Argentina three times.

This meant that Eva became a politician too and influential at that. She used her position as the first lady to fight for causes that she believed in such as women’s rights and making the lives of the poor better.

Eva also informally ran the ministries of health and labour in her husband’s government. Although she excelled in her roles, there were critics who attempted to distract her.

She was asked to be her husband’s running mate in 1951. She turned down due to health reasons. Despite that, Eva played an active role in campaigning for her husband.

8. Eva was a de facto minister

During her term as the first lady, Eva Peron served as de facto minister of health and labour. She ensured that the wages of those in unions were increased.

Eva cut off government subsidies to the Aid society. This did not go well with the elite in the opposition. She founded the Eva Peron foundation that supported the unions and business.

She used the resources she got to establish thousands of hospitals, schools, orphanages, homes for the aged, and other charitable institutions.

One of the most notable policies she passed was allowing women to vote. She also introduced compulsory religious education into all Argentine schools.

9. Eva had a foundation to help poor Argentinians

Public Domain – Wikimedia

The María Eva Duarte Social Help Foundation was established to fight poverty in Argentina. The proceeds she got from the foundation was used to provide medical care and food to the poor.

She got funding for her foundation from unions, taxes and levies, and businesses.

She provided basic items like food, shoes, clothes and cooking utensils to the poor. She also supported homeless women and children.

10. She was still honoured even after her death

Eva Perón died of cancer on July 26, 1952. Her influence however lived on. Her supporters rallied to have her beatified since she had positively impacted lives.

Her husband was overthrown by a military coup in 1955. Her supporters used this opportunity to steal her body and took it to Italy.

The body was sent to Madrid where her husband lived while in exile after 16 years.

Eva’s remains were finally interred in the Duarte family crypt in Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.

11. She met her husband during a good cause

Prof. Pinélides Aristóbulo Fusco (1913-1991), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Around 10,000 people are thought to have died in the earthquake that struck San Juan, Argentina, in January 1944. A fundraising event was set up to aid the earthquake victims by military colonel Juan Perón, who oversaw Argentina’s Ministry of Labour.

Perón was invited since she was a radio show host and was an actress. At the fundraiser’s banquet at Luna Park Stadium, she also met the man who would become her husband. They were married in 1945 despite having a significant age gap—she was in her mid-20s and he was in his late 40s.

12. There’s a city named after her

Ciudad Evita, often known as Evita City, is a suburb of Buenos Aires that was built with funding from the Eva Perón Foundation for working-class Argentinians. However, it not only bears Perón’s name; it also looks like her. Evita City, with her head, turned to the right and her hair pulled back in her distinctive chignon, is visible from above as being built in the shape of her profile.

Juan Perón and other pro-Perón officials were overthrown by military coups in 1955 and 1976, and Evita City underwent two name changes as a result. However, Ciudad Evita is the city’s new name, and there are currently about 70,000 residents.

13. Protesters in Switzerland threw stones and tomatoes at her

Perón visited Switzerland, France, Italy, and Spain in 1947. Perón’s diplomatic journey, called the “Rainbow Tour,” it included encounters with Charles de Gaulle, Pope Pius XII, and Francisco Franco.

She toured the Palace of Versailles while wearing a designer outfit, donated money to underprivileged children in Spain, and confronted Swiss protesters who flung tomatoes and stones at her. Some Europeans were suspicious of Juan Perón’s fascist policies and his associations with Nazi war criminals, while others disapproved of her excessive “famewhoring.”

14. You can see her fashion sense at the Evita Museum

The Evita Museum, or Museo Evita, was opened in Palermo, Buenos Aires, in July 2002 to mark 50 years since her passing. The Eva Perón Foundation built the structure where the museum, which was established by Perón’s grand-niece Cristina Alvarez Rodriquez, is located so that homeless women and children may live there until they got employment and a more permanent place to live. Perón’s paintings and expensive attire are on show at the museum; famously, she dressed in Dior gowns, fitted suits, and eye-catching jewellery, especially after her return from Europe.

15. Perón believed that all women should have the right to vote

NATIONALENCYKLOPEDIN, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Perón advocated for women’s voting rights by speaking on the radio, writing essays, and speaking at demonstrations. She also believed that all women should have the right to vote. Although some scholars argue that her actual political influence in securing equal rights for women may have been over exaggerated she however achieved her objective. Women were granted the right to vote and to run for office when the women’s suffrage bill was approved by Argentina’s senate in 1946 and signed into law in 1947.