7 May 1919: Birthday of Eva Perón, politically powerful wife of Argentine President Juan Perón
Eva Perón: First Lady of Argentina
by Darlene Ruth Stille
Nonfiction/Biography
112 pages
Recommended for: Dialectic students
Published by: Compass Point Books (2006)
Series: Signature Lives: Modern World
Eva Perón was born out of wedlock in an era and place where that met with shame, which was compounded by the fact that her father had a lawful wife and family. She met with some success as a young actress in the 1930s, acting on stage, film, and radio. When she was twenty, she founded her own radio drama company. It was in 1945, however, when she married Juan Perón--who was elected president of Argentina the year after their nuptials--that she really came into her own.
Eva, known as Evita, became famous in her own right for the causes that she championed. A confident, independent woman, she fought for women's rights, including suffrage and, remembering her roots, sought to improve the lives of the poor. Although she was never paid for anything she did within the Argentine government, she ran both the health and labor ministries.
A stunningly beautiful and vibrant woman, she was an asset as First Lady of Argentina, boosting her husband's influence and acting as his most trusted advisor. Her talent for public speaking made her's an influential voice, and she leveraged it to bring about reforms on behalf of the poor of her beloved country. Sadly, she contracted and died from cervical cancer in 1952, at just 33 years old. Despite her short lifespan, her level of influence made her legendary. Her funeral rivaled that of a monarch, which her people, who loved her, saw as fitting. Although because she was so politically powerful, she did have many detractors, resulting in a lot being written about her, by fans and foes alike.
Below are several books, which I briefly shine a spotlight on, that are well-written. I like to include all the best books on a subject on my lists because almost every whole-book homeschooler or avid reader relies heavily upon their local library. Hopefully, if one book is not in your local branch, another one listed will be. In addition to a large catalogue of books, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote a very famous musical, Evita, about her life; Madonna portrayed her in the film version of the musical.
Evita: The Real Lives of Eva Perón
by Nicholas Fraser
Nonfiction/Biography
198 pages
Recommended for: Rhetoric students/adults
Published by: Andre Deutsch
Evita, First Lady: A Biography of Evita Perón
by John Barnes
Nonfiction/Biography
226 pages
Recommended for: Rhetoric students/adults
Published by: Grove Press