Lot Essay
Eva Perón, First Lady of Argentina, was born Maria Eva Duarte, in Los Toldos, Argentina, in 1919. A beautiful and dynamic mistress, Evita, as she became known, married Juan Perón in 1945 and became a powerful political figure in her own right, winning the adulation of the masses she called "the shirtless ones," and burnishing the regime's image of popular democracy.
Although she never held any government post, Evita acted as a de facto minister of health and labor, awarding generous wage increases to the unions, who responded with political support for Perón. After cutting off government subsidies to the traditional Sociedad de Beneficencia, thereby making more enemies among the traditional elite, she replaced the organization with her own Eva Perón Foundation which was supported by "voluntary" union and business contributions plus a substantial cut of the national lottery and other funds. These resources were used to establish thousands of hospitals, schools, orphanages, homes for the aged, and other charitable institutions. Evita was largely responsible for the passage of the women's suffrage law, forming the Peronista Feminist Party in 1949 and she also introduced compulsory religious education into all Argentine schools. In 1951, although she knew herself to be dying of cancer, she obtained the nomination for vice president, but the Army forced her to withdraw her candidacy. After her death, Evita remained a formidable figure in Argentine politics. Her working-class followers tried unsuccessfully to have her canonized, and her enemies, in an effort to exorcize her as a national symbol of Peronism, stole her body in 1955 after Perón was overthrown and secreted it in Italy for 16 years. In 1971 the military government, bowing to Peronist demands, turned over her remains to Perón, then exiled in Madrid.
Although she never held any government post, Evita acted as a de facto minister of health and labor, awarding generous wage increases to the unions, who responded with political support for Perón. After cutting off government subsidies to the traditional Sociedad de Beneficencia, thereby making more enemies among the traditional elite, she replaced the organization with her own Eva Perón Foundation which was supported by "voluntary" union and business contributions plus a substantial cut of the national lottery and other funds. These resources were used to establish thousands of hospitals, schools, orphanages, homes for the aged, and other charitable institutions. Evita was largely responsible for the passage of the women's suffrage law, forming the Peronista Feminist Party in 1949 and she also introduced compulsory religious education into all Argentine schools. In 1951, although she knew herself to be dying of cancer, she obtained the nomination for vice president, but the Army forced her to withdraw her candidacy. After her death, Evita remained a formidable figure in Argentine politics. Her working-class followers tried unsuccessfully to have her canonized, and her enemies, in an effort to exorcize her as a national symbol of Peronism, stole her body in 1955 after Perón was overthrown and secreted it in Italy for 16 years. In 1971 the military government, bowing to Peronist demands, turned over her remains to Perón, then exiled in Madrid.