Born: May 7, 1919
Died: July 26, 1952
Quick!
How many South American sidewalk-strutting starlets have been the subjects of a Tony-winning musical?
Right, just the one.
The life of Eva Peron was fraught with deceit and decay, but it was Evita’s death that makes for the really scandalous stuff. When she died, the First Lady of Argentina had been suffering from cervical cancer that had metastasized in her lungs. (Evita was the first Argentine to undergo chemotherapy.) She weighed just 79 pounds at the time of her death; her last words, “Eva se va” (“Eva is leaving)” were spoken to her sister.
The news of her demise was immediately broadcast throughout the country, and Argentina went into mourning. Traffic was congested, eight people were trampled to death and more than 2,000 people hurt as throngs tried to get close to Evita as her body, soldered shut in a $30,000 bronze casket, was being taken from the Presidential Palace to the Ministry of Labour Building, where she would she lay in state.
Then the fun really started.
When Evita’s hubby Juan Peron was overthrown in a military coup in 1955, he fled the country leaving Evita behind. For 16 years, no one knew what happened to Evita’s body. One day—perhaps out of guilt?—military officials finally revealed what they had done with the corpse—they had buried Evita in a crypt in Milan, Italy, under the name “Maria Maggi.” In 1971, her body was exhumed and flown to Spain, where Juan kept the corpse in his home. Two years later, he returned to Argentina, becoming president for the third time. His wife at the time, Isabel Peron, had Evita’s body returned to Argentina and buried in the family tomb in La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.
Could Evita disappear again? Hardly. She’s hidden under a series of secret trapdoors and compartments. Reports claim the grave is so secure it could withstand a nuclear attack. Want more? Buy the book.
Morbid Curiosity, By Alan W. Petrucelli