Evita

THE LIFE AND WORK OF EVA PERÓN

HÉCTOR GERMÁN OESTERHELD • ALBERTO BRECCIA • ENRIQUE BRECCIA

For more than fifteen years, no one knew where she went. Not she—who had left us—but her shrouded body, embalmed by a Spanish doctor who’d taken care of filling her with strange fluids for three years. in 1955, they took her and hid her. They marched her all over the world so that the people would forget her. Only a military man could have such an absurd idea: it was like asking a wolf to abandon her pups or a hungry mouth to forget bread.

For many years, just as it was unknown where death had taken her, it was uncertain where life had taken her. it doesn’t matter, either. Perhaps the only important thing is her memory. Shreds of memory, suspended among the people: among “mis grasitas*,” as she used to call them, the descamisados**,” the “shirtless,” among those who loved her, those who hated her. The mark she left on history. That’s what matters. The memory: the fleeting breeze of justice disheveled the bourgeoisie and carried the warmth of hope to those who had lost it forever.

At last, they found her. The conspirators, defeated, returned her to Juan Perón in 1971. She returned to Buenos Aires in 1974, to the presidential residence, Quinta de Olivos. But, once again, the people had to wait to honor her. in 1976, they brought her to the Recoleta Cemetery, a place for the rich where the poor would visit. As they had come to the Plaza to applaud her; or to the Foundation to ask for their dreams. They covered the grave with flowers: flowers of the field and of memory. Many resumed their interrupted conversations: “Evita, remember when you sent me on vacation? Now I wanted to ask you…” Also, there are those who come to give her their thanks simply and to welcome her to a good death.

*Literally, mis grasitas means “my little ones who cook with grease and fat.” The historical context is that “grasas” was how upper-class Argentines referred to the illiterate, working poor. Evita added “mis” and “-itas” to turn it into a term of endearment, mocking the upper class. **The descamisados, the “shirtless,” is a term used during Juan Perón’s time to refer to poor people. Since Evita had come from poverty, she was an inspirational figure for them.

Much has been said about her poor, uncertain origin. The laundered version—the one she made official, herself, in her marriage certificate with Juan Perón—says she was born on May 7, 1922, in Junín, as Eva María Duarte. Another version, more rural, more credible, comes from the baptismal book of the Chaplain Vicarage of Nuestra Señora del Pilar in General Viamonte, aka Los Toldos, which attests to the baptism of Eva María, natural daughter of Juan Duarte and Juana Ibarguren, living in that parish. Her sisters say she was born in the house in Los Toldos on May 7, 1919, but others swear it was on the farm La Unión, 20 kilometers from the town. But there is yet another record, that of the Teatro de la Comedia, that has her born on November 21, 1917. And yet another that brings her into the world on April 26, 1919.

To be born in a thriving town, like Junín, is not the same as being born in a town abandoned by even the hand of God, like Los Toldos: it is not right for a president’s wife (she will whisper, in some adviser’s ear, days before her marriage). in Los Toldos, people die on the ranches: from kissing bugs, from cold, from hunger. in Junín, at least, there are stores, automobiles, a main street: people die in decent homes. Eva is the daughter of Juan Duarte and the fourth of five siblings. Until his death in 1926, Duarte had, alongside his family, a long relationship with Juana Ibarguren, hardly a peasant.

it’s said that someone in the family notified Juana; Duarte had an accident. His wake will be in Chivilcoy. She goes there with his children. Some relatives refuse the Ibargurens entrance, though Duarte’s wife had died five years before and can’t protest. Juana appeals to Duarte’s brother. He hesitates but finally decides. They can come in, her and the children, for the final farewell. Just for a moment. Eva barely approaches this man, who is now a stranger. it’s understandable; she’s 7 years old. And afraid. Some close friends are outraged. The intruders don’t stay long. Shameless, a woman will say. Poor thing, what will she do now, with so many children, says another.

Four years later, the family moves to Junín. Things seem to improve. Doña Juana receives the rector of the National College, José Álvarez Rodríguez, at her house every day. They are united by a deep friendship. Shortly after, his brother, Justo, who has just opened a law practice in Junín, will join these lunches. Eva grows and shows a budding bent toward the theater. She recites poems and performs many roles in school plays.

Despite what she maintained for decades, Evita travels to Buenos Aires with her mother in 1934, not with the famous tango singer Agustín Magaldi. The musician had actually visited Junín but in 1929. He returned in 1936 and 1938. Eva boards the train, and the dust from that machine’s tracks will forever shroud her dark, provincial past. She thinks of what awaits her: the big city, theater, fame. She doesn’t know misery, too, lives in the corners of Buenos Aires.

it’s 1935, and Eva is 16. When her mother returns to Junín, she stays at the Bustamantes’, a family friend’s house. Some report she is living with Maruja Gil Quesada, an actress. Those same reports indicate Maruja is showing her the bars and cafés actors and produc ers frequent. She’s already made her debut on Radio Cultura. She manages to join Pepita Muñoz’s theater company and goes on tour inland and to Uruguay. Her first film appearance: just a glimpse, a scene no lon ger than a sigh. Life almost seems to smile at her.

Though still a second-string actress, in a few seasons, Evita managed a steady work rhythm. There’s a brief re turn to Junín, due to a sick sister, and a bout of poverty. Going from cold to cold, from boarding house to boarding house, from theater to theater. Some appearances in the magazine Sintonía, and finally a break. it’s 1938, and Pierina Dealessi gives her a place in her company. “She was a transparent little thing,” the actress will say later. “Fine, thin, with black hair and a face elongated by hun ger.” 1939: the war in Europe. Here, Eva’s big opportunity, she become–with Pascual Pelliciotta—a radio theater star. Antena dedicates a color cover to her.

The country is on edge: strikes, transportation problems, unemployment. Her brother, Juan, who works for the Guereño firm, gets Eva to act in a radio drama sponsored by Jabón Federal, a soap brand, and Eva debuts as head of the company on Radio Prieto. Years later, Juan will live by hanging from her skirts. There are other film performances: El más infeliz del pueblo [The Unhappiest Man in Town] with Luis Sandrini; La carga de los valientes [Only the Valiant]; and Una novia en apuros [A Bride in Trouble] in 1941. Eva doesn’t shine as an actress, but she is beloved by her colleagues.

Sometimes, the injustice and exploitation of the artistic milieu disgust her, but there’s little she can do at the moment. Sometimes, she speaks out before the bosses. Sometimes, she demands better working conditions. Sometimes, she gets fired. it doesn’t matter to a businessman—breaking the contract of a second-rate actress. She’ll never be able to afford a lawyer. Entrepreneurs, bankers— the rich, blind, and deaf don’t know what’s happening. Don’t hear the clamor that rises from below: from the factories, from the poor. Eva hears it and understands. She knows that one day she’ll speak for them: the excluded.

Her artistic work brought her into contact with all sorts of people. As she has seen already, magazines pay attention to her private life. During this time, she’s ascribed some romances. She’s linked first with the editor of a major publication: sometime later, with several radio theater gallants, and finally with a rich businessman, whom she herself says she intends to marry. But in the first half of 1943, Eva disappears from the radio, the magazines, the cafés. No one, even now, can explain her absence.

On June 4, a military coup overthrows President Ramón Castillo. General Pedro Ramírez assumes the presidency. Politician and writer Arturo Jauretche will say later that: thus, ended “the infamous decade.” Argentina remains suspiciously neutral in a conflict that has already claimed millions of victims. in October, a colonel from the United Officers Group (GOU), Juan Domingo Perón, takes charge of the Secretariat of Labor, a bureaucratic sinkhole into which workers’ petitions fall silently. Barely a month later, anoth er thing happens that doesn’t draw anyone’s atten tion either. The organization becomes the Ministry of Labor and Health. From there, Perón drives initiatives that favor the workers.

Eva finally reappears. Things seem to have improved. Now she lives in an apartment in the Norte neighborhood. A friend, Francisco Muñoz Azpiri, writes scripts for a radio drama where she plays the great women of history. She doesn’t imagine, then, that one day, she will be among them.

January 15, 1944: the earth opens in San Juan and swallows people, houses, cars. The whole city is a single cry of pain and despair. More than 10,000 people die, and 80 percent of the buildings are in ruins. in Buenos Aires, famous artists traverse the streets of down town collecting donations. Eva, moved by the disaster, is one of the most involved.

A week later, a festival is held in Luna Park to benefit the victims. Organized by the Ministry of Labor and Health, Colonel Perón will be in the front row. He enters to applause. The workers are already beginning to call his name. Some versions say that Eva—waiting, along with other actresses, her turn to be presented—approaches him, greets him, and whispers something in his ear. They leave hand in hand before the festival ends. A few days later, Perón will appear on Radio Belgrano with Domingo Mercante. And he will be photographed with Eva, a photo that charms the media. it is confirmation of a relationship that will soon end in cohabitation. Finally: an overdue split with the Axis Powers. The decision costs Ramírez: General Edelmiro Farrell replaces him in February of that year.