During the short years she lived with her husband, President Juan Perón, she did many meaningful things, such as bringing food and clothing to the poor and legitimate rights to women.
Eva’s childhood was a long one filled with humiliation. She was born in 1919 in Los Toldos, a village in the Argentine plains, the illegitimate child of a landowner and a cook. As a result, she harbored lifelong resentment toward the wealthy. At the age of 15, Eva went to Buenos Aires (the capital of Argentina) to try her luck in the film industry.
However, people only saw Eva as a bad actress. In return, she became known to many people through the radio industry and thanks to that, the fateful meeting took place.
Eva Perón at a public meeting (1951)
On January 15, 1944, an earthquake devastated the city of San Juan, leaving many children orphaned. Eva and her friends from the Argentine Radio Association immediately organized an art festival to raise funds for relief. The Argentine government sent Colonel Perón, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, to participate in this charity work. He asked to meet the philanthropists and the reunion left a strong impression on the hearts of these two strangers. Deep down, they knew that fate had brought them together…
On February 26, 1946, Juan Perón married Eva and more than 4 months later he became president of the Argentine Republic. Eva did not hold any official position in the government, but she captivated the public, stimulating her husband who was drunk with glory.
1947 was a memorable year in Eva’s political life, she represented President Juan Perón on a tour of Europe. A month after returning, from the balcony of the pink Casa Rosada (Argentine presidential residence), Eva gave a historic speech, announcing Law 13010, which gave women the right to vote. It was September 23, 1947, a memorable day for Argentine women.
In 1949, the Eva Perón Foundation was established to help the poor. From then on, Eva began to receive letters from all over the country. A boy in the north of the country wanted a soccer ball. An old woman needed a mattress and many people needed food or clothes… How modest their dreams were! Looking back at the hundreds of shirts, hats and shoes she had in her hands, Eva felt heartbroken…
Since then, in a garage of the castle for the president of Argentina, people have filled it with essential items for daily life: shoes, socks, flour, sugar, clothes, pots and pans... At night, Eva sorted and packaged those items and personally distributed them to the poor, 10,000 packages here, 9,000 packages there, and in the Christmas season of 1947 alone, 5 million toys were distributed to poor children.
Engrossed in her work, Eva realized in 1951 that illness was eating away at her fragile body. But she continued to engage in charity work. On June 4, 1952, when Juan Perón began his second term as president, Eva weighed just over 30 kg! On July 26 of that year, she died of cervical cancer.
Eva Perón's body in a glass coffin was visited by many people.
Juan Perón did not want his beloved wife’s body to rot in the ground. A few days before Eva breathed her last, the famous embalmer Pedro Ara, who had supervised the embalming of Lenin, was invited to Buenos Aires. The manicurist arrived at the presidential palace early on the morning of July 27 to give the late first lady a final makeover. Then the hairdresser Pedro Alcaraz… who had always been loyal to Eva, also came to do her final makeup.
Covered in a white shroud and a blue-white flag, Eva lay in a coffin made of transparent glass. Between her fingers, people placed a rosary, a gift from the Pope. For 13 days, the heart of Argentina seemed to stop beating. People came to visit her, lining up under countless umbrellas, the line stretched for 3 km. Each person had to wait for 10 hours in hunger, thirst, and cold just to see Eva one last time. Some people were exhausted from fatigue and emotion. The Argentine Red Cross had to send people to distribute coffee and bread to the poor who came to see her off. And those unfortunate people approached the coffin, placing their lips on the cold transparent glass as a final farewell to the person they loved so much...
(to be continued)
(Excerpt from Daily Lives of Famous People in the World , recently published by Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House)
Source link
Comment (0)