By: Kenneth Wahrenberger

Eva Peron was born on this day in Junín, Buenos Aires province to Juan Duarte and Juana Ibarguren. It was here that she spent her early childhood; her dad was a wealthy rancher who had multiple families at the time(as was common for wealthy men at the time. A year after Eva’s birth her father abandoned her family and the family moved into a state of poverty because Juana could not support five children.

At this point she was 15 years old and was dreaming of a future as an actress. Due to her brothers help in the family’s financing they were able to send her and her mother to Buenos Aires were she was trained as an actor. On 28 March 1935, she had her professional debut in the play "The Perezes Misses", at the Comedias Theater.

During the following years( ) Eva worked herself up to earning 5 or 6 thousand pesos a month, making her one of the highest-paid radio actresses in the nation. Due to her success in dramas and films Eva was able to have financial stability and some other comforts. In 1942, Eva was able to move into her own apartment in the neighborhood of Recoleta, on 1567 Calle Posadas Street. The next year Eva began her career in politics, as one of the founders of the Argentine Radio Syndicate.

On this day Eva met her future husband, Juan Peron, at a fundraising festival (gala) for the earthquake victims. It was said that they did not leave the gala until two in the morning. Shortly after meeting in San Juan, Eva Duarte and Juan Perón began to live together and a year after they were married.

In 1946, Juan Perón was elected President of Argentina and Eva was the first lady. Eva had campaigned at every corner of the country to try to help her husband get elected. She was the woman's figurehead to the campaign. Her primary objective was to improve the education for women of the country, and in her time as first lady her foundation built hundreds of schools and hospitals. Juan Perón was the president of Argentina for 6 years.

It was, however, a goal Eva would never realize; she was subsequently diagnosed with terminal cancer. Renouncing her political aspirations, Eva Peron was at the last leg of her life, and on July 26, 1951, she died at the age of 33.

At this point Eva was living in Buenos Aires, Argentina training to be a radio actress