ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 9, 1996 TAG: 9612100018
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
The real Evita was born in Buenos Aires province, moved to the capital at age 15 and became a radio, stage and film actress.
It is believed she was 23 when she met Juan Peron, an ambitious army officer twice her age. They were married in 1946, and a year after that he was elected president, making his wife the most powerful woman in Argentina.
She became the champion of workers and the poor. She helped get women the vote and her Eva Peron Foundation built schools and hospitals and bought gifts for needy children.
All state workers were obliged to contribute two days' salary per year to her charity, money her detractors claim was siphoned off for private use.
Still, she was adored by the ``resentidos,'' the have-nots who hated the rich. ``Shall we burn down the Barrio Norte?'' she would ask them at rallies, referring to a wealthy section of Buenos Aires.
In her autobiography ``The Reason for My Life,'' which was required reading in primary schools, she wrote: ``When I discovered that there were poor people and rich people in the world, the strange thing is that the existence of the poor didn't cause me as much pain as the knowledge that, at the same time, there were people who were rich.''
She died of cancer at age 33 in 1952.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 33 linesby CNB