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Evita Perón (1919-52)Argentinian populist. Born on 7 May 1919, Maria Eva Duarte was a radio and television actress before becoming, in 1945, the second wife of Juan Perón. A colonel in the Argentinian army, he had taken part in the 1943 coup that ousted Ramon Castillo from the presidency. Her political instincts helped him build up a broad base among the old working class and the new urban migrants from the countryside. This enabled him to win the presidency in the 1946 elections, after which he improved the living standards of workers at the expense of landowners. He also nationalised the railways, docks and telephones, and paid off foreign debt. Although Evita was snubbed by the political establishment, she built up a huge popular following of her own by supporting the demands of the poor and women's rights. In 1947, she persuaded her husband to grant female suffrage. But although Juan Perón was re-elected in 1951, with 67% of the vote, his popularity waned when the economy declined. On 26 July 1952, Evita died of cancer, and three years later, her husband was driven from power by the military. After her death, Evita became an icon of Peronism, an ill-defined but powerful populist ideology that blended social justice and nationalism. Perón returned to power in 1973. After his death a year later, his third wife Isabelita became Latin America's first woman president. In 1978, the British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice first staged Evita, a musical mythical treatment of her life. It was made into a film in 1996, starring Madonna as the blonde icon. |
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