First Lady of Argentina

The Woman Who Saved the Lives and Stole the Hearts of Argentinians Known as Evita, Eva Peron was the First Lady of Argentina, as well as President of the Eva Peron Foundation. During their time in power, her husband Juan Domingo Peron implemented a highly infamous government known as Peronism. Despite all the occuring corruption and socialism, the time period continues to commemorate Evita’s attainment of a more equal Argentina. Evita’s connection to politics played a major role in her success, as she utilized her husband to learn more about the government and publicize her accomplishments to a mass audience.

Her connection to her citizens, no matter their income, earned her the title of the “Spiritual Leader of the Nation”. Arguably, one of the most attributing factors to her popularity, were her advances in women’s rights. Evita was also famous for her constant charity work to improve citizens’ lives, giving society another reason to consider her a saint.

Likewise, her advances in healthcare proved to save many lives in the past through the present. Therefore, the improvement of healthcare, citizens’ lives, and women’s rights were all achieved for Argentinians, as a result of Evita’s connection to the people and politics. Out of all of Evita’s achievements, one of the most significant was the Eva Peron Foundation contribution to public health. A major factor to Argentina’s horrible public healthcare was a direct result of deteriorating French style hospitals, and a lack of structure in protecting patients.

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Nicholas Fraser and Marysa Navarro, authors of the renowned novel, Evita: The Real Life of Eva Peron, described the situation as, “…vast halls lined with beds in which nursing was perfunctory and patients could easily be forgotten. Nurses were really orderlies or servants, ignorant of medical procedures.” In order to transform this devastating negative into a positive, Evita convinced the state to take the damaged buildings and form nursing schools.

The outcome was a free four year school educating interns from Argentina in order to advance the country’s current healthcare system (Fraser 129). Evita understood that she could not just fix the current situation, as it was important to also protect the future. Nursing schools would continue to advance society, as they would later provide jobs and save many people. Evita achieved this by using her political position as First Lady of Argentina, and it proved to be very effective.

With respect to Evita’s history of living in a working class family, she was much more passionate than the average Argentinian when it came to improving their lives. In that manner, Evita felt as though improving healthcare was not all that needed improvement in order to ameliorate citizens’ lives. To do this, she spent several hours every day visiting factories and orphanages to boost morale. Once she began to supervise the Ministry of Health, she created hospitals and new programs in order to stop the spread of major diseases. Along with the Ministry of Health, Evita was in charge of the creation of the “Policlinico Presidente Peron,” most famous for being a medical center and training hospital. In 1951, what is now known as the “health train” traveled around Argentina for four months in order to provide free health services, such as X- rays, inoculations, and drugs for treatments (Fraser 129). Areas such as Jujuy and Greater Buenos Aires required help in remote communities and more children’s hospitals, as they had no funding or a way to provide for themselves. Within the next year, Catamarca, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Jujuy, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta and Santiago del Estero and Buenos Aires founded five polyclinics (Hedges 170).

The Gale Encyclopedia of World Biography reported Policlinico Presidente Peron’s efforts to be a “… remarkably successful program to eradicate such diseases as tuberculosis, malaria, and leprosy.” Evita’s connection to her people made it so she did not want to see them suffer in a working class lifestyle. Evita’s platform as head of the Ministry of Health and the creator of Policlinico Presidente Peron was the way of getting jobs done and improving the country. Along with healthcare, Evita was eager to improve citizens’ welfare and quality of life. Oftentimes, citizens asked Evita for help with finances and personal issues.

When a child was sick with no access to medical care, Evita would quickly get them into a hospital to receive proper care. A family could be living in a shack one day, and then be placed into a suburb the next, all thanks to Evita (Fraser 78). A majority of work to help the poor in instances like these, was done by the María Eva Duarte de Perón Welfare Foundation, an organization Evita supervised. Financial contributions allowed the foundation to distribute a multitude of necessary items to those suffering throughout Argentina: food, clothes, money and medicine. Fraser and Navarro state the foundation, “… purchased annually for distribution 400,000 pairs of shoes, 500,000 sewing machines and 200,000 cooking pots…” Along with beneficial items, the foundation provided multiple job opportunities. Over time, the foundation hired 14,000 workers for many different positions: 6,000 construction, 26 priests, and various other influential occupations. Along with that, the foundation created homes, scholarships, and hospitals in order to improve the lives of citizens (Fraser 118).

All of these accomplishments were a direct result of Evita’s contributions, as everything was carried out by her. Consequently, Evita could easily be described as a leader for protecting the rights of the defenseless by using her political position. Even if she did not possess the power to change laws herself, she could use her symbolic post as the First Lady to get jobs done. Her foundation allowed her to make personal contributions by creating schools, hospitals, and women’s residences. Thousands directly benefited from her efforts and even more received hope from her generosity (Hedges 5).

Thanks to Evita’s contribution and direct connection with the working classes, the descamisados, translating to the ‘shirtless ones,’ admired her greatly. Author Timothy G. Borden states that the Maria Eva Duarte de Peron, “…subsequently spent an estimated three billion pesos on new houses, hospitals, clinics, and household items for the poor” (Borden). In order to control labor and further support working classes, she became a member of the Secretariat of Labor, controlling a section of the offices.

This position allowed her to affect who were Ministers of Labor and other top members. Her contributions earned her the title of Secretary of Labor, where she could fight for higher wages and social welfare (Eva Duarte). The title of Secretary of Labor provided Evita with an official position, in which change could be implemented for her people. Being First Lady definitely allowed Evita to kick start conversations, but with an actual political position she was able to be so much more effective in the powerful role of a government official. Similar to all of Evita’s accomplishments, her effect on the political life of women was paramount in Argentine society. Along with being the First Lady of Argentina, Evita was at the forefront of the women’s rights movement.

They needed a spokesperson and Evita filled that position by making speeches and using her Democracia newspaper to persuade male and female followers alike to join her cause. Eventually, a law passed on September 23, 1947 allowing Argentine women the ability to vote (Fraser 106). Once signed, Juan Domingo Peron handed the bill to her, and in Fraser and Navarro’s words, “…making it hers, along with this substantial new constituency of women voters. ” Since more and more women were becoming involved in politics, a new party needed to be created. Partido Persona Feminine or the Peronist Feminist Party officially established on July 26, 1949. Evita was elected as its first president because of her contributions to women’s rights (Loveday 3).

Accordingly, the title gave her the ability to further women’s strength in politics and change what had been a previously male dominated society. Had it not been for her, citizens would not respect a woman in a political environment and would undoubtedly disregard their political opinions. Before the right to vote, women did not care about what occurred to women’s rights, but then began to notice what was going on and entered politics. This time period gave birth to the first Argentine women to become active in politics. Peronism would be able to continue as a result, as Peron received a large majority of votes in the 1951 election (Fraser 109).

As if women earning the right to vote was not monumental enough, the Senate received six women candidates and 23 for the lower house, with all being elected. In Jill Hedges’ novel The Life of Eva Peron, it describes one of the elected officials, Ana Macri, and her opinion on Evita: “[Evita] Introduced women to politics, opened the doors to a new life of hopes and realizations that elevated their roles as mothers and wives to political life on a par with men” With that mindset, Peron won the re-election with 2.4 million women voting for him, as a result of Evita’s actions (Hedges 156).

Evita inspired a feminist movement never seen before in Argentina, allowing for Peronism to thrive and all citizens to express their opinion. A female-run nation was no longer a dream, but an attainable concept. Decades later, the world begins to compare Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the first female president of Argentina, to Evita, as they demonstrate many of the same qualities: Both strong women, from a middle-class family, and important figures in politics (Interview).

In light of their comparison, Kirchner declared her praise toward Evita in an article with Time Magazine right before the election, “Women of my generation owe her a debt: When we came of age during the dark [military] dictatorship of the 1970s, we had her example of passion and combativeness to get us through.” Evita’s effect on Argentina spanned years beyond her original efforts. By Evita becoming such a powerful figure in politics, women saw a role model they strove to emulate.

If it had not been for Evita, people such as Kirchner would not be in the position they currently serve. All things considered, the improvement of healthcare, citizens’ lives, and women’s rights were all achieved for Argentinians, as a result of Evita’s connection to the people and politics. Her advances in women’s rights proved to be victorious, as well as providing a strong female leader to aspire to become. Moreover, Evita’s non-profit organizations improved citizens’ lives by decreasing poverty and providing hope for a better future. Correspondingly, her advances in healthcare proved to extricate Argentinians of their various illnesses and injuries. For these reasons, Evita became the woman who saved the lives and stole the hearts of Argentinians.