Recoleta Cemetery -- Eva Peron -- Evita
Let’s pause for a moment and talk about one of Argentina’s most famous citizens who happens to be interred there, Eva Peron (or Evita). Most of us in America know about her primarily from the movie with Madonna, which got some stuff right, but like everything Hollywood is embellished a bit.
Maria Eva Duarte was the illegitimate child of a wealthy landowner in Argentina. Seems Dad had his “city” family and parked his side piece (Eva’s mom) out on the farm so he could come to the country and play happy family whenever he wanted.
This apparently wasn’t unusual at the time but did lead to some abuses (many of which are documented in the movie, so I won’t go into them here). Evita had ambition, though, and at least a little talent so she went to the big city to catch her break in theater. She started by doing radio voice-over and stage work. Since politicians like to hang around with movie stars (or their equivalent), she got to know some important people and worked her way into their favors, eventually meeting Juan Peron who was an up-and-comer on the political scene and who went on to be President of Argentina not once but twice.
I’m told that Evita did NOT sing from the balcony like in the movie.
Anyhow, she was a bit of a contrarian, supporting the workers (from whence she hailed) rather than the elite society into which she married. Hubs wasn’t the president when they got married, but like all First Ladies she definitely did her part to help the process along, and although she had no formal title in the government, she was a force in and of herself.
You don’t manage to exert that much influence without making some enemies along the way, so after she died at 33 of cervical cancer those opposing the reforms that she and her husband had initiated sort of “lost” her embalmed body before it could be buried.
Once her husband got removed from office, the body kept being hidden and moved around – was eventually buried in Europe for several years – until it was finally placed in the family mausoleum in the Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.
Disclaimer – that’s a down and dirty summary. Obviously, there is a lot left out and there are lots of things that might be interpreted differently. If you are reading this, you have access to the internet; go do your own research about her if it’s important to you. I just need enough detail to make the story semi-interesting.
Maria Eva Duarte was the illegitimate child of a wealthy landowner in Argentina. Seems Dad had his “city” family and parked his side piece (Eva’s mom) out on the farm so he could come to the country and play happy family whenever he wanted.
This apparently wasn’t unusual at the time but did lead to some abuses (many of which are documented in the movie, so I won’t go into them here). Evita had ambition, though, and at least a little talent so she went to the big city to catch her break in theater. She started by doing radio voice-over and stage work. Since politicians like to hang around with movie stars (or their equivalent), she got to know some important people and worked her way into their favors, eventually meeting Juan Peron who was an up-and-comer on the political scene and who went on to be President of Argentina not once but twice.
I’m told that Evita did NOT sing from the balcony like in the movie.
Anyhow, she was a bit of a contrarian, supporting the workers (from whence she hailed) rather than the elite society into which she married. Hubs wasn’t the president when they got married, but like all First Ladies she definitely did her part to help the process along, and although she had no formal title in the government, she was a force in and of herself.
You don’t manage to exert that much influence without making some enemies along the way, so after she died at 33 of cervical cancer those opposing the reforms that she and her husband had initiated sort of “lost” her embalmed body before it could be buried.
Once her husband got removed from office, the body kept being hidden and moved around – was eventually buried in Europe for several years – until it was finally placed in the family mausoleum in the Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.
Disclaimer – that’s a down and dirty summary. Obviously, there is a lot left out and there are lots of things that might be interpreted differently. If you are reading this, you have access to the internet; go do your own research about her if it’s important to you. I just need enough detail to make the story semi-interesting.
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