Eva Peron once said, “When the rich think about the poor, they have very poor ideas.” Eva Peron not only was a savior to the poor but also a huge advocate for human rights. Eva Peron was born on May 7th 1919 in Los Toldos Argentina to Juan Duarte and Juana Ibaguren. As a child Eva always wanted to be an actress and together with her sister Eriminda would put on plays they had written for their friends and family. This skill of writing plays would pay off later in life for Eva. Juan Duarte had a second family and when he died in a car accident in 1926 his other wife shunned the Duartes and Eva was kept away from her father’s funeral. This would contribute to the development of her hatred to the middle class families.
When Eva was about 15, she moved to Buenos Aires to become an actress. She was employed by many theatre companies and in 1937 landed her first film role in Segundos Afurera (Seconds Out) and later got a contract with a local radio station where she played in numerous radio shows. At the age of 20, Eva started her own entertainment company called “Company of The Theatre Of The Air” which produced many radio programs. Throughout her career she had many affairs with numerous men until she met Colonel Juan Peron, a general and government official.
In 1945, Col. Peron was elected as president of Argentina and it was clear from the beginning that his new wife Eva was determined to fight for what she believed in and change Argentina for the better. From the moment her husband’s government took office, Eva did not hesitate to start helping improving the lives of the lower class and create jobs in a depression-struck Argentina. She unofficially took control of the ministries of health and labor. Eva quickly became a strong force in the government with her speeches gaining much attention by the people of Argentina with crowds stretching multiple blocks at a time. The military began to get outraged at the idea of a women having so much pull in “their” government. This resulted in riots by the military with Eva ultimately pulling through and continuing to dominate the political landscape. Following the behavior of the Argentinian military, Col. Peron retired from the military. Eva’s popularity continued to sky rocket and when Col. Peron was re-elected in the following election, Eva was given the opportunity to become the vice president of Argentina. This is an honour Eva would never see. In the middle of her husband’s campaign, Eva began to develop cancer and passed away on July 26th 1952. Eva was a huge advocate for human rights and her legacy lives on in the stage musical of Evita and countless books and other movies.
