Commonly known as Evita, and one of the most controversial figures of Argentine politics in history.
Eva Peron was born Maria Eva Duarte on May 7, 1919 in Los Toldos, a province of Buenos Aires. Her mother was Juana Ibaguren, her father Juan Duarte, a successful businessman in the area belonging to an influential family, and Deputy Justice of the Peace since 1908. However, he belonged to the Conservative Party, and after the election of 1919 and the Radical Party's ascension to power, Juan declined in power, having to leave Los Toldos to seek prosperity elsewhere (in Quiroga), but soon returning.
On January 8, 1926, Juan Duarte died in a car accident in Chivilcoy, plunging the family into worse problems. At his famous funeral, they were supposedly snubbed because Juana was not married to him, although Blanca and Erminda, two of Eva's sisters, deny that this took place.
Eva joined primary school at the age of eight, attending first and second grade at Los Toldos, before moving in 1930 to Junin in search of a better economic situation. Here, Eva continued her schooling. Here too, Eva began to show her artistic abilities, reciting poetry on a stage. She was later to say: "Even as a little girl I wanted to recite. It was as though I wished to say something to others, something important which I felt in my deepest heart." ('La Razón de Mi Vida')
There were often plays in the town, organised by The Commission of the Artistic and Cultural Center of the Colegio Nacional. Eva was not a member of this group, but her sister was, and she was allowed to perform in a play called 'Arriba Estudiantes'. It was through this and other performances that Eva decided she wanted to become an actress.
In the mid-1930s, it appears that Eva left Junin with one Augustin Magaldi, a tango dancer who promised to make her famous, backed by José Alvarez Rodriguez, director of the Colegio Nacional, and stayed with the Bustamantes, friends of the family, in Buenos Aires.
In Buenos Aires, Eva confronted the gap between rich and poor and the destitution the dispossed of Buenos Aires had to live in. This was to be a revelation which would remain with her for the rest of her life. She devoted her time to the arts, joining the Argentine Comedy Company, which was headed by Eva France. She had her debut in 1935 in 'La Senora de los Perez', receiving good reviews despite her small part. She remained in this company until the beginning of 1936, but only played small parts. She went on tour with another company, and on her return she joined Armando Discépolo's company, a very prestigious one headed by one of the best directors of those times.
Eva first appeared on the silver screen in August 1937 in 'Segundos Afuera'. From then on, she acted alternately on the stage, in cinema and on the radio.
In 1943, a miltitary coup ousted the Government, and General Pedro P. Ramirez assumed the Presidency. Juan Perón, a prestigious military officer, took over the National Department of Labour, which soon changed name to the 'Secretariat of Labour and Social Welfare', a platform from which he would establish the groundwork for much of the next decade's political history.
In 1944, an earthquake rocked the city of San Juan. Peron organised a relief effort, inviting the time's best-known stars to participate, among them Eva Duarte. A relationship began between the colonel and the actress, which was confirmed at a gala on July 9 in celebration of Argentina's Independence Day. Eva began advocating the cause of the new Government in radio programmes, and Perón soon accepted that Eva would stand at his side, not behind him.
Juan and Eva were married in a civil ceremony on October 22, 1945, and in a religious ceremony on December 10, before the elections of 1946, in which Juan stood as the Labour Party's presidential candidate. After a long campaign, Perón won the Presidency. After Juan's victory, Eva redefined herself again; on the one hand, she was Eva Perón, the wife of a President, like other Presidents' wives before her. On the other, she was Evita, wife to man in whom the people had placed their trust, and a humanitarian.
Over the next few years, she set up the Eva Peron Foundation, campaigned for women's suffrage and became an internationally renowned figure. By 1951, she had reached the height of her power, and she ran as her husband's running mate for the presidency. She was, however, ill with uterine cancer by this time, and renounced the vice-presidency in a nationwide broadcast. She voted from her sick bed later that year, and her husband ascended to power once again. Eva accompanied him for his inauguration, but this was to be her last public appearance.
She left a legacy of controversy and mourning, along with a charitable foundation which still bears her name. Today, historians still argue over the impact she made on Argentine history and her motives. She has been immortalised in many books and a musical named 'Evita'.
Sources:- http://www.evitaperon.org