7 The 100 Most Influential World Leaders of All Time 7Eva Perón
María Eva Duarte married Juan Perón in 1945 after an
undistinguished career as a stage and radio actress. She
participated in her husband’s 1945–46 presidential cam-
paign, winning the adulation of the masses, whom she
addressed as los descamisados (or “the shirtless ones”).
Although she never held any government post, Evita,
as she was affectionately called, acted as de facto minis-
ter of health and labour, awarding generous wage
increases to the unions, who responded with political
support for Perón. After cutting off government subsi-
dies to the traditional Sociedad de Beneficencia (“Aid
Society”), thereby making more enemies among the tra-
ditional elite, she replaced it with her own Eva Perón
Foundation, which was supported by “voluntary” union
and business contributions plus a substantial cut of the
national lottery and other funds. These resources were
used to establish thousands of hospitals, schools, orphan-
ages, homes for the aged, and other charitable
institutions. Evita was largely responsible for the pas-
sage of the woman suffrage law and formed the Peronista
Feminist Party in 1949. She also introduced compulsory
religious education into all Argentine schools. In 1951,
although dying of cancer, she obtained the nomination
for vice president, but the army forced her to withdraw
her candidacy.
After her death, Evita remained a formidable influence
in Argentine politics. Her working-class followers tried
unsuccessfully to have her canonized, and her enemies—
in an effort to exorcise her as a national symbol of
Peronism—stole her embalmed body in 1955 after Juan
Perón was overthrown and hid it in Italy for 16 years. In
1971 the military government, bowing to Peronist demands,