Eva Pern

Argentine actress in radio and movies before her marriage to Juan Peron 10/21/1945. As the First Lady she helped him to rise to power and became one of the most influential women of her time. Beloved by her people, she was mourned by the nation at her death. Legendary, she was either a saint who loved the common people or a calculating whore who slept her way to power and exploitation, according to different accounts. She created much of her own myth, saying that she'd been born in 1922 where it was actually 1908, one of five kids of a married rancher and his mistress, a cook. When her dad died in 1926 she moved to Junin where her mom ran a boardinghouse. As young teenagers she and her girl friend were sexually assaulted by two young aristocrats and left naked by the side of the road. She left home at 15. Not a great beauty, she nonetheless had transparent skin and vivid eyes. Over the next ten years she made her career as an actress on stage, radio and movies, using sex to get what she wanted. When she met Peron in 1943, he was a well-known career army officer and a widower, 48 to her 23-24. After a military coup, he was named Minister of Labor. Eva became his mistress and they married in 1945. The following year he was elected President of Argentina. Photogenic and charismatic, Eva now learned to dress her role and use her power. Where Peron was almost devoid of personality, she blazed like a meteor for five years with her political machinations. When she aided the poor, and helped women get the vote for the first time in 1950, she became a national icon. The country was in an economic slump while the corrupt wealthy had power and control. Eva spoke for the common people. Always frail, Eva had an emergency appendectomy in 1950 and was found to have uterine cancer. She refused to have a hysterectomy. She made a final public appearance on 6/05/1952 at Peron's second inauguration and died seven weeks later, 7/26/1952, Buenos Aries. When Peron was overthrown in 1955, Eva's preserved body was taken to a secret grave in Italy where it stayed until 9/23/1971. It was then taken back to Peron, still perfectly preserved, with her blonde hair flowing like a halo around her face. Link to Wikipedia biography