Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
name	María Eva Duarte de Perón
office2	Head of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare of ArgentinaServing with Secretary Jose Maria Freire
preceded2	Juan Perón
succeeded2	Jose Maria Freire
term start2	4 June 1946
term end2	26 July 1952
president2	Juan Perón
office3	Head of the Ministry of Health of Argentina
term start3	4 June 1946
term end3	26 July 1952
president3	Juan Perón
office4	President of the Female Peronist Party
preceded4	None
succeeded4	Delia Parodi
term start4	1947
term end4	1952
office5	President of the Maria Eva Duarte de Perón Foundation
term start5	1948
term end5	1952
preceded5	None
succeeded5	Juan Perón
president5	Juan Perón
office1	First Lady of Argentina
preceded1	Conrada Victoria Torni
succeeded1	Vacant
term start1	4 June 1946
term end1	26 July 1952
president1	Juan Perón
nationality	Argentine
party	Justicialist PartyPeronist Feminist Party
birth date	May 07, 1919
birth place	Los Toldos, Argentina
death date	July 26, 1952
death place	Buenos Aires, Argentina
occupation	ActressPhilanthropistFirst LadyPolitician
spouse	Juan Perón (1945–1952)
religion	Roman Catholicism
signature	Eva Peron Signature.svg }}

María Eva Duarte de Perón (; 1919–1952) was the second wife of President Juan Perón (1895–1974) and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.

She was born out of wedlock in the village of Los Toldos in rural Argentina in 1919, the fourth of five children. In 1934, at the age of 15, she went to the nation's capital of Buenos Aires, where she pursued a career as a stage, radio, and film actress. Eva met Colonel Juan Perón on January 22, 1944, in Buenos Aires during a charity event at the Luna Park Stadium to benefit the victims of an earthquake in San Juan, Argentina. The two were married the following year. In 1946, Juan Perón was elected President of Argentina. Over the course of the next six years, Eva Perón became powerful within the pro-Peronist trade unions, primarily for speaking on behalf of labor rights. She also ran the Ministries of Labor and Health, founded and ran the charitable Eva Perón Foundation, championed women's suffrage in Argentina, and founded and ran the nation's first large-scale female political party, the Female Peronist Party.

In 1951, Eva Perón renounced the Peronist nomination for the office of Vice President of Argentina. In this bid, she received great support from the Peronist political base, low-income and working class Argentines who were referred to as ''descamisados'' or "shirtless ones". However, opposition from the nation's military and bourgeoisie, coupled with her declining health, ultimately forced her to withdraw her candidacy. In 1952 shortly before her death from cancer at the age of 33, Eva Perón was given the official title of ''"Spiritual Leader of the Nation"'' by the Argentine Congress. Eva Perón was given an official state funeral despite the fact that she was not an elected head of state.

Eva Perón has become a part of international popular culture, most famously as the subject of the musical ''Evita.'' Cristina Alvarez Rodriguez, Evita's great niece, claims that Evita has never left the collective consciousness of Argentines. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the first female elected President of Argentina, claims that women of her generation owe a debt to Eva for "her example of passion and combativeness".

Early life

Early childhood

Eva's autobiography, ''La Razón de mi Vida'', contains no dates or references to childhood occurrences, and does not list the location of her birth or her name at birth. According to Junín's civil registry, a birth certificate shows that one ''María Eva Duarte'' was born on 7 May 1922. There are arguments that she was not born in Argentina, but a small town in Paraguay near the border of the two countries. Due to the rivalry between Argentina and Paraguay, that fact has been disputed. Her baptismal certificate, however, lists the date of birth as 7 May 1919 under the name ''Eva María Ibarguren''. It is believed that in 1945 the adult Eva Perón created a forgery of her birth certificate for her marriage.

Eva Perón spent her childhood in Junín, Buenos Aires province. Her parents, Juan Duarte and Juana Ibarguren (sometimes referred to as Doña Juana), were descended from Basque immigrants. Juan Duarte was a wealthy rancher from nearby Chivilcoy, where he already had a wife and family. During this time period in rural Argentina, it was not uncommon to see a wealthy male with multiple families.

In 1920, when Eva was a year old, Duarte returned to his legal family, leaving Juana Ibarguren and her family of five children in a severe state of poverty. As a result of the impoverishment, Ibarguren and her children moved to the poorest area of Junín. In order to support herself and her children, Ibarguren sewed clothes for neighbors. The family was stigmatized by the abandonment of the father, especially since Argentine law frowned upon illegitimate children. Eva allegedly destroyed her birth certificate in 1945 so as to erase this part of her past.

Junín

Prior to abandoning her, Juan Duarte had been Juana Ibarguren's sole means of support. Biographer John Barnes writes that after his abandonment, all Duarte left to the family was a document declaring that the children were his, thus enabling them to use the Duarte surname. Soon after, Juana moved her children to a one room apartment in Junín. In order to pay the rent on their single-roomed home, mother and daughters took up jobs as cooks in the houses of the local estancias.

Eventually, thanks to the older brother's financial help, the family moved into a bigger house, which they would later transform into a boarding house.

Buenos Aires in the 1930s was the continent's most cosmopolitan and elegant metropolis, and soon became known as the 'Paris of South America.' As in any great European capital, the center of the city was filled with cafés, restaurants, theaters, movie houses, shops, and bustling crowds. Eva was one of many people from the provinces who, attracted by the process of industrialization, had come to Buenos Aires in the 1930s. When she arrived with little more than a cardboard suitcase containing her few possessions, she must have felt a wrenching sense of vulnerability and solitude. In direct contrast to the glamor of the city, the 1930s were also years of great unemployment, poverty, and hunger in the capital, and many new arrivals from the interior were forced to live in tenements, squalid boardinghouses, and in outlying shantytowns that became known as ''villas miserias''.

Upon arrival in Buenos Aires, Eva Duarte was faced with the difficulties of surviving without formal education or connections. The city was especially overcrowded during this period because of the migrations caused by the great depression. On 28 March 1935, she had her professional debut in the play ''"The Perezes Misses"'', at the ''Comedias Theater''.

In 1936, Eva toured nationally with a theater company, worked as a model, and was cast in a few B-grade movie melodramas. In 1942, Eva experienced some economic stability when a company called ''Candilejas'' (sponsored by a soap manufacturer) hired her for a daily role in one of their radio dramas, which aired on ''Radio El Mundo'' (World Radio), the most important radio station in the country at that time. Later that year, she signed a five-year contract with ''Radio Belgrano'', which would assure her a role in a popular historical-drama program called ''Great Women of History'', in which she played Elizabeth I of England, Sarah Bernhardt and the last Tsarina of Russia. Eventually, Eva Duarte came to co-own the radio company. By 1943, Eva Duarte was earning five or six thousand pesos a month, making her one of the highest-paid radio actresses in the nation. Pablo Raccioppi, who jointly ran ''Radio El Mundo'' with Eva Duarte, is said to have not liked her, but to have noted that she was "thoroughly dependable." Eva also had a short-lived film career, but none of the films in which she appeared were hugely successful. In one of her last films, ''La Cabalgata del Circo'' (''The Circus Cavalcade''), Eva played a young country girl who rivaled an older woman, the movie's star, Libertad Lamarque.

As a result of her success with radio dramas and the films, Eva achieved some financial stability and its comforts. In 1942, she was able to move into her own apartment in the exclusive 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 (ARA).

On 15 January 1944, an earthquake occurred in the town of San Juan, Argentina, killing six thousand people. In response, Perón, who was then the Secretary of Labour, established a fund to raise money to aid the victims. He devised a plan to have an "artistic festival" as a fundraiser, and invited radio and film actors to participate. After a week of fundraising, all participants met at a gala. It was at this gala, on 22 January 1944, that Eva Duarte first met Juan Perón. Eva referred to the day she met her future husband as her "marvelous day". Fraser and Navarro write that Juan Perón and Eva left the gala together at around two in the morning.

Shortly after meeting in San Juan, Eva Duarte and Juan Perón began to live together. This move is said to have scandalized some in Juan Perón's inner circle. During this time period in Argentina, entertainers and politicians were seen as two distinct classes of people. Additionally, it was considered improper for an unmarried couple to share quarters. Perón, however, introduced Eva to his inner circle of political associates and advisors. He even allowed Eva to sit in on his meetings with close advisors and members of government. Fraser and Navarro claim that Perón's decision to involve Eva in his political life is difficult to understand, because it could open him to scandal and damage his career.

Fraser and Navarro claim that Eva Duarte had no knowledge of or interest in politics prior to meeting Perón. Therefore, she never argued with Perón or any of his inner circle, but merely absorbed what she heard. Juan Perón would later claim in his memoir that he purposefully selected Eva as his pupil, and set out to create in her a "second I." Fraser and Navarro, however, suggest that Juan Perón allowed Eva Duarte such intimate exposure and knowledge of his inner circle because of his age: he was 48 and she was 24 when they met each other. He had come to politics late in life, and was therefore free of preconceived ideas of how his political career should be conducted, and he was willing to accept whatever aid she would offer him.

In May 1944, it was announced that broadcast performers must organize themselves into a union, and that this union would be the only one permitted to operate in Argentina. Shortly after the union was formed, Eva Duarte was elected its president. Fraser and Navarro speculate that Juan Perón made the suggestion that performers create a union, and the other performers likely felt it was good politics to elect his mistress. Shortly after her election as president of the union, Eva Duarte began a daily program called "Toward a Better Future," which dramatized in soap opera form the accomplishments of Juan Perón. Often, Perón's own speeches would be played during the course of the program. When she spoke, Eva Duarte spoke in ordinary language as a regular woman who wanted listeners to believe what she herself believed about Juan Perón.

Rise to power

Juan Perón's arrest

By early 1945, a group of Army officers called the GOU for "Grupo de Oficiales Unidos" (United Officers Group), nicknamed "The Colonels," had gained considerable influence within the Argentine government. President Pedro Pablo Ramírez became wary of Juan Perón's growing power within the government, but was unable to curb that power. On 24 February 1944, Ramírez signed his own resignation paper, which Fraser and Navarro claim was drafted by Juan Perón himself. Edelmiro Julián Farrell, a friend of Juan Perón's, became President. Juan Perón returned to his job as Labor Minister. Fraser and Navarro claim that by this point, Perón was the most powerful man in the Argentine government. On 9 October 1945, Juan Perón was arrested by his opponents within the government who feared that due to the strong support of the ''descamisados'', the workers and the poor of the nation, Perón's popularity might eclipse that of the sitting president.

Six days later, between 250,000 and 350,000 people gathered in front of the Casa Rosada, Argentina's government house, to demand Juan Perón's release, and their wish was granted. At 11 pm, Eva Perón stepped on to the balcony of the Casa Rosada and addressed the crowd. Biographer Robert D. Crassweller claims that this moment was very powerful because it was very dramatic and recalled many important aspects of Argentine history. Crassweller writes that Juan Perón enacted the role of a ''caudillo'' addressing his people in the tradition of Argentine leaders Rosas and Yrigoyen. Crassweller also claims that the evening contained "mystic overtones" of a "quasi-religious" nature. Eva Perón has often been credited with organizing the rally of thousands that freed Juan Perón from prison on October 17, 1945. This version of events was popularized in the movie version of the Lloyd Webber musical. Most historians, however, agree that this version of events is unlikely. At the time of Perón's imprisonment, Eva was still merely an actress. She had no political clout with the various labor unions that supported Perón, and it is claimed that she was not well-liked within Perón's inner circle, nor was she liked by many within the film and radio business at this point. When Juan Perón was imprisoned, Eva Duarte was suddenly disenfranchised. In reality, the massive rally that freed Perón from prison was organized by the various unions, such as General Labor Confederation, or ''CGT'' as they came to be known. To this day, the date of October 17 is something of a holiday for the Justicialist Party in Argentina (celebrated as ''Día de la Lealtad'', or "Loyalty Day"). Eva and Juan were married discreetly in a civil ceremony in Junín on October 18, 1945 and in a church wedding on December 9, 1945.

1946 Presidential election victory

After his release from prison, Juan Perón decided to campaign for the presidency of the nation. Eva campaigned heavily for her husband during his 1946 presidential bid. Using her weekly radio show she delivered powerful speeches with heavy populist rhetoric urging the poor to align themselves with Perón's movement. Although she had become wealthy from her radio and modeling success, she would highlight her own humble upbringing as a way of showing solidarity with the impoverished classes.

Along with her husband, Eva visited every corner of the country, becoming the first woman in Argentina history to appear in public on the campaign trail with her husband. (Incidentally, she was also the first woman in Argentine public life to wear trousers.) Eva's appearance alongside her husband often offended the establishment of the wealthy, the military, and those in political life. However, she was very popular with the general public who knew her from her radio and motion picture appearances. It was during this phase of her life that she first encouraged the Argentine population to refer to her not as "Eva Perón" but simply as "Evita," which is a Spanish diminutive or affectionate nickname roughly equivalent to "Little Eva" or "Evie."

European tour

In 1947, Eva embarked on a much-publicized "Rainbow Tour" of Europe, meeting with numerous dignitaries and heads of state, such as Francisco Franco and Pope Pius XII. Biographers Fraser and Navarro write that the tour had its genesis in an invitation the Spanish leader had extended to Juan Perón. For political reasons it was decided that Evita, rather than Juan Perón, should make the visit. Fraser and Navarro write that Argentina had only recently emerged from its "wartime quarantine" thus taking its place in the United Nations and improving relations with the United States. Therefore, a visit to Franco, with Salazar the last remaining west European authoritarian leader in power, would be diplomatically frowned upon internationally. Fraser and Navarro write that Eva decided that if Juan Perón would not accept Franco's invitation for a state visit to Spain, then she would. Advisors then decided that Eva should visit many European countries in addition to Spain. This would make it seem that Eva's sympathies were not specifically with Franco's fascist Spain but with all of Europe. The tour was billed not as a political tour but as a non-political "goodwill" tour.

Eva was well-received in Spain, where she visited Capilla Real, the tombs of Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. Francoist Spain had not recovered from the Spanish Civil War (the autarkic economy and the UN embargo meant that the country could not feed its people). During her visit to Spain, Eva handed out 100-peseta notes to many poor children she met on her journey. She also received from Franco the highest award given by the Spanish government, the Order of Isabel the Catholic.

Eva then visited Rome, where the reception was not as warm as it had been in Spain. Though Pope Pius XII did not give her a Papal Decoration, she was allowed the time usually allotted queens and was given a Rosary.

Her next stop was France, where she was generally well received. She visited the Palace of Versailles, among other sites. She also met with Charles de Gaulle. She promised France two shipments of wheat.

While in France Eva received word that George VI would not receive her when she planned to visit Britain, regardless of what his Foreign Office might advise, and that her visit would not be viewed as an official state visit. Fraser and Navarro wrote that when Eva found that the royal family was not able to meet with her when she had decided to meet with them, Eva interpreted that she was being snubbed and therefore canceled any plans for a trip to the United Kingdom. However, the official reason Eva gave for not going on to Britain was exhaustion.

Eva also visited Switzerland during her European tour. This visit has been viewed as the worst part of the trip. According to the book ''Evita: A Biography'' by John Barnes, while driving down a street with many people crowding her car, someone threw two stones and smashed the windshield. She threw her hands up in shock but was not injured. Later, while sitting with the Foreign Minister, protesters threw tomatoes at her. The tomatoes hit the Foreign Minister and splattered on Eva's dress. After these two events, Eva had had enough, and after two months returned home to Argentina.

There was speculation by members of the Peronist opposition that the true purpose of the European tour was to deposit funds into a Swiss bank account. "The opposition in Buenos Aires," write Fraser and Navarro, "assumed that the genuine purpose of the whole European visit was for Eva and her brother to deposit money in Swiss bank accounts, and that the rest had been devised to conceal this. Many wealthy Argentines did this, but there are many more convenient and less conspicuous ways of depositing money in Swiss accounts than meeting the Swiss Foreign Minister and being shown around a watch factory." Fraser and Navarro conclude, "Was there a Swiss bank account? It seems unlikely."

During her tour to Europe, Eva Perón was featured in a cover story for ''Time'' magazine. The cover's caption–"Eva Perón: Between two worlds, an Argentine rainbow"–was a reference to the name given to Eva's European tour, The Rainbow Tour. This would be the first and only time in the periodical's history that a South American first lady appeared alone on its cover (in 1951, Eva appeared again with Juan Perón). However, the 1947 cover story was also the first publication to mention that Eva had been born out of wedlock. In retaliation, the periodical was banned from Argentina for several months.

After returning to Argentina from Europe, Evita would never again appear in public with the complicated hairdos of her movie star days. The brilliant gold color became more subdued in tone, and even the style changed, her hair being pulled back severely into a heavy braided chignon. Additionally, her extravagant clothing became more refined after the tour. No longer would she wear the elaborate hats and form-fitting dresses of Argentine designers. Soon she adopted simpler and more fashionable Paris couture and became particularly attached to the fashions of Christian Dior and the jewels of Cartier. In an attempt to cultivate a more serious political persona, Eva began to appear in public wearing conservative though stylish ''tailleurs'' (a business-like combination of skirts and jackets), which also were made by Dior and other Paris couture houses.

Charitable and feminist works

Eva Perón Foundation

The ''Sociedad de Beneficencia'' (Society of Beneficence), a charity group made up of 87 society ladies, was responsible for most charity works in Buenos Aires prior to the election of Juan Perón. Fraser and Navarro write that at one point the ''Sociedad'' had been an enlightened institution, caring for orphans and homeless women, but that those days had long since passed by the time of the first term of Juan Perón. In the 1800s, the ''Sociedad'' had been supported by private contributions, largely those of the husbands of the society ladies. But by the 1940s, the ''Sociedad'' was supported by the government.

It had been the tradition of the ''Sociedad'' to elect the First Lady of Argentina as president of the charity. But the ladies of the ''Sociedad'' did not approve of Eva Perón's impoverished background, lack of formal education, and former career as an actress. Fraser and Navarro write that the ladies of the ''Sociedad'' were afraid that Evita would set a bad example for the orphans therefore the society ladies did not extend to Evita the position of president of their organization. It has often been said that Evita had the government funding for the ''Sociedad'' cut off in retaliation. Fraser and Navarro suggest that this version of events is in dispute, but that the government funding that had previously supported the ''Sociedad'' now went to support Evita's own foundation. The Fundación María Eva Duarte de Perón was created on July 8, 1948. It would later be renamed simply the Eva Perón Foundation. Its funding began with 10,000 pesos provided by Evita herself.

In ''The Woman with the Whip'', the first English language biography of Eva Perón, author Mary Main writes that no account records were kept for the foundation because it was merely a means of funneling government money into private Swiss bank accounts controlled by the Peróns. Fraser and Navarro, however, counter these claims, writing that Ramón Cereijo, Minister of Finance, kept records, and that the foundation "began as the simplest response to the poverty (Evita) encountered each day in her office" and "the appalling backwardness of social services—or charity, as it was still called—in Argentina." Crassweller writes that the foundation was supported by donations of cash and goods from the Peronist unions, private businesses, and that the Confederación General del Trabajo donated three man-days (later reduced to two) of salary for every worker per year. Tax on lottery and movie tickets also helped to support the foundation, as did a levy on casino and revenue from horse races. Crassweller also notes that there were some cases of businesses being pressured to donate to the foundation, with negative repercussions resulting if requests for donations were not met.

Within a few years, the foundation had assets in cash and goods in excess of three billion pesos, or over $200 million at the exchange rate of the late 1940s. It employed 14,000 workers, of which 6,000 were construction workers, and 26 priests. It purchased and distributed annually 400,000 pairs of shoes, 500,000 sewing machines, 200,000 cooking pots. The foundation also gave scholarships, built homes, hospitals, and other charitable institutions. Every aspect of the foundation was under Evita's supervision. The foundation also built entire communities, such as Evita City, which still exists today. Fraser and Navarro claim that due to the works and health services of the foundation, for the first time in history there was no inequality in Argentine health care.

Fraser and Navarro write that it was Evita's work with the foundation that played a large role in her idealization, leading some to even consider her to be a saint. Though it was unnecessary from a practical standpoint, Evita set aside many hours per day to meet with the poor who requested help from her foundation. During these meetings with the poor, Evita often kissed the poor and allowed them to kiss her. Evita was even witnessed placing her hands in the suppurated wounds of the sick and poor, touching the leprous, and kissing the syphilitic. Fraser and Navarro write that though Argentina is secular in many respects, it is essentially a Catholic country. Therefore, when Evita kissed the syphilitic and touched the leprous she "ceased to be the President's wife and acquired some of the characteristics of saints depicted in Catholicism." Poet José María Castiñeira de Dios, a man from a wealthy background, reflected on the times he witnessed Evita meeting with the poor: "I had had a sort of literary perception of the people and the poor and she had given me a Christian one, thus allowing me to become a Christian in the profoundest sense...."

Fraser and Navarro write that toward the end of her life, Evita was working as many as 20 and 22 hours per day in her foundation, often ignoring her husband's request that she cut back on her workload and take the weekends off. The more she worked with the poor in her foundation, the more she adopted an outraged attitude toward the existence of poverty, saying, "Sometimes I have wished my insults were slaps or lashes. I've wanted to hit people in the face to make them see, if only for a day, what I see each day I help the people." Crassweller writes that Evita became fanatical about her work in the foundation and felt on a crusade against the very concept and existence of poverty and social ills. "It is not surprising," writes Crassweller, "that as her public crusades and her private adorations took on a narrowing intensity after 1946, they simultaneously veered toward the transcendental." Crassweller compares Evita to Ignatius Loyola, saying she came to be akin to a one-woman Jesuit Order.

Female Peronist Party and women's suffrage

Biographers Fraser and Navarro wrote that Eva Perón has often been credited with gaining for Argentine women the right to vote. While Eva did make radio addresses in support of women's suffrage and also published articles in her ''Democracia'' newspaper asking male Peronists to support women's right to vote, ultimately the ability to grant to women the right to vote was beyond Eva's powers. Fraser and Navarro claim that Eva's actions were limited to supporting a bill introduced by one of her supporters, Eduardo Colom, a bill which was eventually dropped. A new bill in support of women's suffrage was introduced which the Senate of Argentina sanctioned on 21 August 1946, and it was necessary to wait for more than a year before the House of Representatives could sanction it on 9 September 1947. Law 13,010, established the equality of political rights between men and women and universal suffrage in Argentina. Finally, Law 13,010 was approved unanimously. In a public celebration and ceremony, however, Juan Perón signed the law granting women the right to vote, and then he handed the bill to Eva, symbolically making it hers.

Eva Perón then created the Female Peronist Party, which was the first large female political party in the nation. Navarro and Fraser write that by 1951 the party had 500,000 members and 3,600 headquarters across the country. Navarro and Fraser write that while Eva Perón did not consider herself a feminist, her impact on the political life of women was decisive. Thousands of previously apolitical women entered politics because of Eva Perón. They were the first women to be active in Argentine politics. The combination of female suffrage and the organization of the Female Peronist Party granted Juan Perón a large majority (sixty-three percent) of the vote in the 1951 presidential elections.

1951 Presidential election

Vice Presidential nomination

In 1951, Evita set her sights on earning a place on the ballot as candidate for vice-president. This move angered many military leaders who despised Evita and her increasing powers within the government. According to the Argentine Constitution, the Vice President automatically succeeds the President in the event of the President's death. The possibility of Evita becoming president in the event of Juan Perón's death was not something the military could accept.

She did, however, receive great support from the working class, the unions, and the Peronist Women's Party. The intensity of the support she drew from these groups is said to have surprised even Juan Perón himself. Fraser and Navarro write that the wide support Evita's proposed candidacy generated indicated to him that Evita had become as important to members of the Peronist party as Juan Perón himself was. On August 22, 1951 the unions held a mass rally of two million people called "Cabildo Abierto." (The name "Cabildo Abierto" was a reference and tribute to the first local Argentine government of the May Revolution, in 1810.) The Peróns addressed the crowd from the balcony of a huge scaffolding set up on the Avenida 9 de Julio, several blocks away from the Casa Rosada, the official government house of Argentina. Overhead were two large portraits of Eva and Juan Perón. It has been claimed that "Cabildo Abierto" was the largest public display of support in history for a female political figure.

At the mass rally, the crowd demanded that Evita publicly announce her official candidacy as vice president. She pleaded for more time to make her decision. The exchange between Evita and the crowd of two million became, for a time, a genuine and spontaneous dialogue, with the crowd chanting, "¡Evita, Vice-Presidente!" When Evita asked for more time so she could make up her mind, the crowd demanded, "¡Ahora, Evita, ahora!" ("Now, Evita, now!"). Eventually, they came to a compromise. Evita told the audience that she would announce her decision over the radio a few days later.

Declining health and political opposition

Eventually, she declined the invitation to run for vice-president, saying that her only ambition was that in the large chapter of history that would be written about her husband, the footnotes would contain mention of a woman who brought the "hopes and dreams of the people to the president," a woman who eventually turned those hopes and dreams into "glorious reality." In Peronist rhetoric, this event has come to be referred to as "The Renouncement," portraying Evita as having been a selfless woman in line with the Hispanic myth of marianismo. Most biographers, however, postulate that Evita did not so much renounce her ambition as bow out due to pressure from her husband, the military, and the Argentine upper class, who preferred that she not enter the race.

By 1951, it had also become evident that her health was rapidly deteriorating. In early 1950, Evita fainted in public and underwent surgery a few days later. Although it was reported that she had undergone an appendectomy, she had actually developed advanced cervical cancer. Fainting continued through 1951 (including the evening after "Cabildo abierto"), with extreme weakness and severe vaginal bleeding. Although her diagnosis was withheld from her by Juan, she knew she was not well, and a bid for the vice-presidency was not practical in light of her condition. Only a few months after "the Renouncement," Evita underwent a secret radical hysterectomy in an attempt to eradicate her advanced cervical cancer. In 2011 a Yale neurosurgeon studied Evita's skull x-rays and photographic evidence and stated that Perón was likely given a prefrontal lobotomy in the last months of her life in order "to relieve the pain, agitation and anxiety she suffered in the final months of her illness".

Re-election and Spiritual Leader of the Nation

On 4 June 1952, Evita rode with Juan Perón in a parade through Buenos Aires in celebration of his re-election as President of Argentina. Evita was by this point so ill that she was unable to stand without support. Underneath her oversized fur coat was a frame made of plaster and wire that allowed her to stand. She took a triple dose of pain medication before the parade, and took another two doses when she returned home.

In an official ceremony a few days after Juan Perón's second inauguration, Evita was given the official title of "Spiritual Leader of the Nation."

Death

Passing and funeral

Despite having undergone a hysterectomy by the American surgeon George T. Pack, Evita's cancer returned rapidly. She developed lung metastasis and was the first Argentine to undergo chemotherapy (a novel treatment at that time). Despite all available treatment, she became emaciated, weighing only 36 kg (about 79 lb.) by June 1952. Evita died at the age of 33, at 8:25 p.m., on July 26, 1952. The news was immediately broadcast throughout the country, and Argentina went into mourning. All activity in Argentina ceased; movies stopped playing; restaurants were closed and patrons were shown to the door. A radio broadcast interrupted the broadcasting schedule, with the announcer reading, "The Press Secretary's Office of the Presidence of the Nation fulfills its very sad duty to inform the people of the Republic that at 20:25 hours deceased Mrs Eva Perón, Spiritual Leader of the Nation." Eva Perón was granted an official state funeral and a full Roman Catholic requiem mass.

Mourning

Upon Eva Perón's death, the government suspended all official activities for two days, with all flags being flown at half-staff for ten days. It soon became apparent, however, that these measures fell short of reflecting popular grief. The crowd outside of the official presidential residence had grown dense, congesting the streets for ten blocks in each direction. Later, while Evita's body was being moved, eight people were crushed to death in the throngs. In the following 24 hours, over 2000 people would be treated in city hospitals for injuries sustained in the rush to be near Evita as her body was being transported from the presidential residence to the Ministry of Labour building. The streets of Buenos Aires overflowed with flowers that were stacked in huge piles, and within one day of Evita's death, all flower shops in Buenos Aires had run out of flowers. Despite the fact that Eva Perón never held an official political office, she was eventually given an official funeral usually reserved for a head of state. A memorial was held for the Argentine team during the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki due to Eva Perón's death during those games.

There were different interpretations of the popular mourning of Eva Perón's death. Some reporters viewed that the mourning was authentic, while others felt that the popular grief was merely the result of the public succumbing to the "passion plays" of the Peronist regime. For example, according to a ''Time'' magazine article published on 11 August 1952 entitled "In Mourning," the Peronist government enforced the beginning of daily periods of five minutes of mourning, following the daily radio announcement.

During Evita's time, children born to unmarried parents did not have the same legal rights as those born to married parents. Biographer Julie M. Taylor, professor of anthropology at Rice University, has said that Evita was well aware of the pain of being born "illegitimate." Taylor speculates that Evita's awareness of this may have influenced her decision to have the law changed so that "illegitimate" children would henceforth be referred to as "natural" children. Upon her death, the Argentine public was told that Evita was only 30. The discrepancy was meant to dovetail with Evita's earlier tampering with her birth certificate. After becoming the first lady in 1946, Evita had her birth records altered to read that she had been born to married parents, and placed her birth date three years forward, making herself younger.

Memorial plans

Shortly after Evita's death, Dr. Pedro Ara was approached to embalm the body. Fraser and Navarro write that it is doubtful that Evita herself ever expressed a wish to be embalmed and suggest that it was most likely Juan Perón's decision. Dr. Ara was a professor of anatomy who had studied in Vienna and maintained an academic career in Madrid. His work was occasionally referred to as "the art of death." His highly advanced embalming technique consisted of replacing the corpse's blood with glycerine, which preserved all organs including the brain and created a very lifelike appearance, giving the body the appearance of "artistically rendered sleep." Dr. Ara was known in Buenos Aires society for his work. Among the people he had embalmed was Spanish composer Manuel de Falla. Dr. Ara claims that his embalming of Evita's corpse began on the night of her death and that by the next morning "the body of Eva Perón was completely and infinitely incorruptible" and therefore suitable for display to the public.

In the book ''Peron and the Enigmas of Argentina'', biographer Robert D. Crassweller claims that the Anglo Saxon nations of North America and Europe largely misunderstood Argentina's response to the death of Eva Perón as well as the ornate funeral she was granted. Crassweller attributes this misunderstanding to the unique cultural makeup of the Peróns and Argentina itself, claiming that the Peróns are of the Hispanic tradition and that their opposition was largely of Anglo-Saxon extraction:

Almost lost among the memories of Evita that have caught the imagination of the world there was another that has been little noted but whose importance is considerable: the legacy of incomprehension. Her brief and dazzling years were so successful because, in good part, she was so profoundly of the ethos. 'I have the body and the soul and the blood of the people.' But it was the ethos of the old, Hispanic-Creole tradition, born in the interior out of Lima and nurtured on the Pampas. Like Perón, she was wholly indigenous in origin, formation, and spirit; like him, she was distrusted and misunderstood in the Argentina of the Liberal System and in the outside world that knew only that Argentina.

The same was true with regard to Evita's dramatised death during her last ten months, the dying in public that she sought as confirmation of her devotion. Such an attitude toward mortality is a variation of the old Hispanic preoccupation with death and with the dignity and splendour associated with it. It had by then faded away in most of the European Catholic societies and it is unknown in the Anglo-Saxon nations. Therefore, many saw her ordeal and the response of Perón and of the vast public as elements in an essentially political passion play, an attempt to milk some sympathy and benefit out of what should have been a private tragedy. It was simply the legacy of incomprehension, the same legacy that made it impossible for Evita and Perón to grasp fully the emotional intensity of much of the world reaction to the seizure of ''La Prensa'', or other repressions of the Peronato. Thus Evita lived and died, an object of wonder to the world and a memorial to the inability of one ethos truly to understand another.

Disappearance and return of corpse

Shortly after her death, plans were made to construct a monument in Evita's honor. The monument, which was to be a statue of a man representing the "descamisados," was projected to be larger than the Statue of Liberty. Evita's body was to be stored in the base of the monument and, in the tradition of Lenin's corpse, to be displayed for the public. While waiting for the monument to be constructed, Evita's embalmed body was displayed in her former office at the CGT building for almost two years. Before the monument to Evita was completed, Juan Perón was overthrown in a military coup, the Revolución Libertadora, in 1955. Perón hastily fled the country and did not make arrangements to secure Evita's body.

A military dictatorship took power in Argentina. The new authorities removed Evita's body from display and its whereabouts remained a mystery for 16 years. From 1955 until 1971, the military dictatorship of Argentina issued a ban on Peronism. It became illegal not only to possess pictures of Juan and Eva Perón even in one's home, but even to speak their names. In 1971 the military revealed that the body was buried in a crypt in Milan, Italy, under the name "María Maggi." In 1995, Tomás Eloy Martínez published "Santa Evita," a work propounding many new stories about the escapades of the corpse—including allegations that many wax copies had been made, that the corpse had been damaged with a hammer, and that one of the wax copies was the object of an officer's sexual attentions.

Final resting place

In 1971, Evita's body was exhumed and flown to Spain, where Juan Perón maintained the corpse in his home. Juan and his third wife, Isabel, decided to keep the corpse on their dining room table. In 1973, Juan Perón came out of exile and returned to Argentina, where he became president for the third time. Perón died in office in 1974. His third wife, Isabel Perón, whom he had married on November 15, 1961, and who had been elected vice-president, succeeded him, thus becoming the first female president in the Western Hemisphere. It was Isabel who had Evita's body returned to Argentina and (briefly) displayed beside Juan Perón's. The body was later buried in the Duarte family tomb in La Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires.

Extensive measures were taken by the Argentine government to secure Evita's tomb. There is a trapdoor in the tomb's marble floor, which leads to a compartment that contains two coffins. Under the first compartment is a second trapdoor and a second compartment. That is where Evita's coffin rests. Biographers Marysa Navarro and Nicholas Fraser write that the claim is often made that Evita's tomb is so secure that it could withstand a nuclear attack. "It reflects a fear," they write, "a fear that the body will disappear from the tomb and that the woman, or rather the myth of the woman, will reappear." This cemetery, which is located in the northern part of barrio Recoleta, also holds the remains of many illustrious military generals, presidents, scientists, poets and other affluent Argentinians. There is a saying in Argentina that it costs much more to die than it does to live.

Legacy and criticism

Argentina and Latin America

"In all of Latin America, only one other woman has aroused an emotion, devotion and faith comparable to those awakened by the Virgin of Guadalupe. In many homes, the image of Evita is on the wall next to the Virgin."

In his essay titled "Latin America" published in ''The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity'', John McManners also claims that the appeal and success of Eva Perón can be related in terms of Latin American mythology and concepts of divinity. McManners even claims that Eva Perón consciously incorporated aspects of the mythology of the Virgin and of Mary Magdalene into her public persona. Historian Hubert Herring has described Eva Perón as "Perhaps the shrewdest woman yet to appear in public life in Latin America."

In a 1996 interview, Tomás Eloy Martínez referred to Eva Perón as "the Cinderella of the tango and the Sleeping Beauty of Latin America." Martínez suggested Eva Perón has remained an important cultural icon for the same reasons as fellow Argentine Che Guevara:

"Latin American myths are more resistant than they seem to be. Not even the mass exodus of the Cuban raft people or the rapid decomposition and isolation of Fidel Castro's regime have eroded the triumphal myth of Che Guevara, which remains alive in the dreams of thousands of young people in Latin America, Africa and Europe. Che as well as Evita symbolize certain naive, but effective, beliefs: the hope for a better world; a life sacrificed on the altar of the disinherited, the humiliated, the poor of the earth. They are myths which somehow reproduce the image of Christ."

Though it is not an official government holiday, the anniversary of Eva Perón's death is marked by Argentines every year. Additionally, Eva Perón has been featured on Argentine coins, and a form of Argentine currency called "Evitas" was named in her honor. Ciudad Evita (Evita City), which was established by the Eva Perón Foundation in 1947, is located just outside of Buenos Aires. Cristina Kirchner, the first elected female president in Argentinian history, is a Peronist who has occasionally been referred to as "The New Evita." Kirchner says she does not want to compare herself to Evita, claiming Evita was a unique phenomenon in Argentine history. However, Kirchner says that women of her generation who came of age in the 1970s during the military dictatorships in Argentina owe a debt to Evita for offering an example of passion and combativeness. On 26 July 2002, the 50th anniversary of Eva Perón's death, a museum opened in her honor called "Museo Evita." The museum, which was created by her great-niece Cristina Alvarez Rodriquez, houses many of Eva Perón's clothes, portraits, and artistic renderings of her life. It has become a popular tourist attraction. The museum was opened in a building that was once used by the Eva Perón Foundation.

In the book ''Eva Perón: The Myths of a Woman'', cultural anthropologist Julie M. Taylor claims that Evita has remained important in Argentina due to the combination of three unique factors:

"In the images examined, the three elements consistently linked—femininity, mystical or spirituality power, and revolutionary leadership—display an underlying common theme. Identification with any one of these elements puts a person or a group at the margins of established society and at the limits of institutional authority. Anyone who can identify with all three images lays an overwhelming and echoing claim to dominance through forces that recognize no control in society or its rules. Only a woman can embody all three elements of this power."

Taylor argues that the fourth factor in Evita's continued importance in Argentina relates to her status as a dead woman and the power that death holds over the public imagination. Further, Taylor claims that Evita's embalmed corpse is analogous to the incorruptibility of various Catholic saints, such as Bernadette Soubirous, and therefore holds powerful symbolism within the largely Catholic cultures of Latin America.

"To some extent her continuing importance and popularity may be attributed not only to her power as a woman but also to the power of the dead. However, a society's vision of the afterlife may be structured, death by its nature remains a mystery, and, until society formally allays the commotion it causes, a source of disturbance and disorder. Women and the dead— death and womanhood —stand in similar relation to structured social forms: outside public institutions, unlimited by official rules, and beyond formal categories. As a female corpse reiterating the symbolic themes of both woman and martyr, Eva Perón perhaps lays double claim to spiritual leadership."

Allegations of fascism

Biographers Nicholas Fraser and Marysa Navarro write that Juan Perón's opponents had from the start accused Perón of being a fascist. Spruille Braden, a diplomat from the United States who was greatly supported by Juan Perón's opponents, campaigned against Juan Perón's first candidacy on the platform that Juan Perón was a fascist and a Nazi. Fraser and Navarro also theorize that the perception of the Peróns as fascists was enhanced during Evita's 1947 European tour during which she was a guest of honor of Francisco Franco. By 1947, Franco had become politically isolated as one of the few remaining fascists to retain power. Franco, therefore, was in desperate need of a political ally. As much as a third of Argentina's population is of Spanish descent, and therefore it seemed natural that Argentina would have diplomatic relations with Spain. Commenting on the international perception of Evita during her 1947 European tour, Fraser and Navarro write, "It was inevitable that Evita be viewed in a fascist context. Therefore, both Evita and Perón were seen to represent an ideology which had run its course in Europe, only to re-emerge in an exotic, theatrical, even farcical form in a faraway country."

Laurence Levine, the former president of the U.S.-Argentine Chamber of Commerce, writes that in contrast to Nazi ideology, the Peróns were not anti-Semitic. In the book ''Inside Argentina from Perón to Menem: 1950–2000 from an American Point of View'', Levine writes:

"The American government demonstrated no knowledge of Perón's deep admiration for Italy (and his distaste for Germany, whose culture he found too rigid). Nor did they appreciate that although anti-Semitism existed in Argentina, Perón's own views and his political associations were not anti-Semitic. They paid no attention to the fact that Perón sought out the Jewish community in Argentina to assist in developing his policies and that one of his most important allies in organizing the industrial sector was José Ber Gelbard, a Jewish immigrant from Poland."

Biographer Robert D. Crassweller writes, "Peronism was not fascism," and "Peronism was not Nazism." Crassweller also refers to the comments of U.S. Ambassador George S. Messersmith. While visiting Argentina in 1947, Messersmith made the following statement: "There is not as much social discrimination against Jews here as there is right in New York or in most places at home."

In his review of the 1996 movie ''Evita'', movie critic Roger Ebert criticized Eva Perón, writing. "She let down the poor, shirtless ones by providing a glamorous facade for a fascist dictatorship, by salting away charity funds, and by distracting from her husband's tacit protection of Nazi war criminals." ''Time Magazine'' later published an article by Tomás Eloy Martínez, formerly director of the Latin American program at Rutgers University, titled "The Woman Behind the Fantasy: Prostitute, Fascist, Profligate—Eva Peron Was Much Maligned, Mostly Unfairly". In this article, Martínez writes that the accusations that Eva Perón was a fascist, a Nazi, and a thief have been leveled against Evita for decades. Martínez writes that these accusations are actually untrue:

"She was not a fascist—ignorant, perhaps, of what that ideology meant. And she was not greedy. Though she liked jewelry, furs and Dior dresses, she could own as many as she desired without the need to rob others…. In 1964 Jorge Luis Borges stated that 'the mother of that woman [Evita]' was 'the madam of a whorehouse in Junín.' He repeated the calumny so often that some still believe it or, more commonly, think Evita herself, whose lack of sex appeal is mentioned by all who knew her, apprenticed in that imaginary brothel. Around 1955 the pamphleteer Silvano Satander employed the same strategy to concoct letters in which Evita figures as an accomplice of the Nazis. It is true that (Juan) Perón facilitated the entrance of Nazi criminals to Argentina in 1947 and 1948, thereby hoping to acquire advanced technology developed by the Germans during the war. But Evita played no part. She was far from being a saint, despite the veneration of millions of Argentines, but she was not a villain either."

In his doctoral dissertation at Ohio State University, Lawrence D. Bell writes that the governments that preceded Juan Perón had been anti-Semitic but that Juan Perón's government was not. Juan Perón "eagerly and enthusiastically" attempted to recruit the Jewish community into his government and even set up an entire branch of the Peronist government for Jewish members. Juan Perón's government was the first to court the Argentine Jewish community and the first to allow Jewish citizens to hold public office. Kevin Passmore writes that the Peronist regime, more than any other Latin American regime, has been accused of being fascist. Passmore claims, however, that the Peronist regime was not fascist, and fascism under Perón never took hold in Latin America. Additionally, because the Peronist regime allowed for rival political parties to exist, the Peronist regime cannot be described as totalitarian.

International popular culture

By the late 20th century, Eva Perón had become the subject of numerous articles, books, stage plays, and musicals, ranging from the biography ''The Woman with the Whip'' to a 1981 TV movie called ''Evita Perón'' with Faye Dunaway in the title role. The most successful rendering of Eva Perón's life has been the musical production ''Evita''. The musical began as a concept album co-produced by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, with Julie Covington in the title role. Elaine Paige would later be cast in the title role when the concept album was adapted into a musical stage production in London's West End. In 1980, Patti LuPone won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance as the title character. Nicholas Fraser claims that to date "the musical stage production has been performed on every continent except Antarctica and has generated over $2 billion in revenue."

As early as 1978, the musical was considered as the basis for a movie. After a nearly 20-year production delay, Madonna was cast in the title role for the film version and won the Golden Globe Award for "Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy." In response to the American film, and in an alleged attempt to offer a more politically accurate depiction of Evita's life, an Argentine film company released ''Eva Perón: The True Story''. The Argentine production starred actress Esther Goris in the title role. This movie was the 1996 Argentine submission for the Oscar in the category of "Best Foreign Language Film."

Nicholas Fraser writes that Evita is the perfect popular culture icon for our times because her career foreshadowed what, by the late 20th century, had become common. During Evita's time it was considered scandalous for a former entertainer to take part in public political life. Her detractors in Argentina had often accused Evita of turning public political life into show business. But by the late 20th century, Fraser claims, the public had become engrossed in the cult of celebrity and public political life had become insignificant. In this regard, Evita was perhaps ahead of her time. Fraser also writes that Evita's story is appealing to our celebrity-obsessed age because her story confirms one of Hollywood's oldest clichés, the rags to riches story. Reflecting on Eva Perón's popularity more than half a century after her death, Alma Guillermoprieto writes that, "Evita's life has evidently just begun."

References

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading

Guareschi, Roberto (November 5, 2005). "Not quite the Evita of Argentine legend". ''New Straits Times'', p. 21.

The Evolution of Eva Perón in the North American Consciousness

Buenos Aires: Home of Evita, Forever Young and Beautiful by Graham Reid, ''The New Zealand Herald'', May 7, 2009

External links

Eva Perón Historical Foundation

casahistoria pages on Perón Les Fearns site, also links to Eva Perón pages

Category:Actor-politicians Category:Argentine film actors Category:Justicialist Party politicians Category:Suffragists Category:Cancer deaths in Argentina Category:Deaths from cervical cancer Category:Folk saints Category:Mummies Category:People from Buenos Aires Province Category:Spouses of the Presidents of Argentina Category:Argentine women in politics Category:Burials at La Recoleta cemetery Category:1919 births Category:1952 deaths

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Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
name	Faye Dunaway
birth date	January 14, 1941
birth place	Bascom, Florida, United States
birth name	Dorothy Faye Dunaway
spouse	Peter Wolf (1974–1979)Terry O'Neill (1983–1987)
partner	Marcello Mastroianni (1968-1970)
occupation	Actress
years active	1962 - present }}

Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress.

Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in ''Network'' (1976) after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films ''Bonnie and Clyde'' (1967) and ''Chinatown'' (1974). She has starred in a variety of films, including ''The Thomas Crown Affair'' (1968), ''The Towering Inferno'' (1974), ''Three Days of the Condor'' (1975), and ''Mommie Dearest'' (1981).

Early life

Dunaway was born Dorothy Faye Dunaway in Bascom, Florida, the daughter of Grace April (née Smith), a housewife, and John MacDowell Dunaway, Jr., a career army non-commissioned officer. She is of Irish, Scottish and German descent. She attended the University of Florida, Florida State University, and Boston University, but graduated from the University of Florida in theater. In 1962, Dunaway joined the American National Theater and Academy.

Career

Dunaway appeared on Broadway in 1962 as the daughter of Thomas More in ''A Man for All Seasons''. Her first screen role was in 1967 in ''The Happening''. In 1967, she was in ''Hurry Sundown''; that same year, she gained the leading female role in ''Bonnie and Clyde'' opposite Warren Beatty, which earned her an Oscar nomination. She also starred in 1968 with Steve McQueen in the caper film ''The Thomas Crown Affair'' (and had a small role in the 1999 remake with the same title with Pierce Brosnan).

In the 1970s, she starred in such films as ''Three Days of the Condor'', ''Little Big Man'', ''Chinatown'', ''The Three/Four Musketeers'', ''Eyes of Laura Mars'', and ''Network'', for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress as the scheming TV executive Diana Christensen. She worked with such leading men as Dustin Hoffman, Charlton Heston, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Tommy Lee Jones, Jack Nicholson, and Robert Duvall.

In the 1980s, although her performances did not waver, the parts grew less compelling. Dunaway would later blame ''Mommie Dearest'' (1981) for ruining her career as a leading lady. She received a Razzie Award for Worst Actress, and the critics despised the film, although it grossed a moderate $19 million in its first release and was one of the top 30 grossing films of the year. In 1987, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama for her performance in ''Barfly'' with Mickey Rourke. In a later movie, ''Don Juan DeMarco'' (1995), Dunaway co-starred with Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando.

Dunaway starred in the 1986 made-for-television movie ''Beverly Hills Madam'' opposite Melody Anderson, Donna Dixon, Terry Farrell and Robin Givens. She had earlier turned down the role of Sable Colby on The Colbys, the Aaron Spelling spin-off of the nighttime soap Dynasty. In 1993, Dunaway briefly starred in a sitcom with Robert Urich, ''It Had to Be You''. Dunaway won an Emmy for a 1994 role as a murderer in "It's All in the Game," an episode of the long-running mystery series ''Columbo''.

In 1996, she toured nationally with the stage play ''Master Class''. The story about opera singer Maria Callas was well received. Dunaway bought the rights to the Terrence McNally play for possible film development.

In 2006, Dunaway played a character named Lois O'Neill in season six, episode 13 of the crime drama ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', titled "Kiss-Kiss, Bye-Bye". She served as a judge on the 2005 reality show ''The Starlet'', which sought, ''American Idol''-style, to find the next young actress with the potential to become a major star. In the spring of 2007, the direct-to-DVD movie release of ''Rain'', based on the novel by V. C. Andrews and starring Dunaway, was released. In 2009, Dunaway starred in the film ''The Bait'', by Polish film director and producer Dariusz Zawiślak. ''The Bait'' is a contemporary version of a drama ''Balladyna'', by Polish 19th - century poet Juliusz Słowacki.

On October 2, 1996, Dunaway awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard.

Personal life

Dunaway has been married twice, from 1974 to 1979 to Peter Wolf, the lead singer of the rock group The J. Geils Band, and from 1984 to 1987 to Terry O'Neill, a British photographer. She and O'Neill have one child, Liam O'Neill (born 1980). In 2003, despite Dunaway's earlier claims that she had given birth to Liam, Terry revealed that Liam was adopted.

Dunaway is an adult convert to Roman Catholicism.

In August, 2011, Dunaway was sued for eviction by the landlord of her rent stabilized apartment on East 78th Street in Manhattan. The suit alleged that she was not actually residing in the apartment but rather lived in California. Rent stabilization rules require tenants to live in the apartment they are renting as a primary residence, not as a second home. If Dunaway were to leave the apartment, rented by her on August 1, 1994, the landlord could receive more than double the $1,048.72 per month rent paid by Dunaway. In a voice message to the New York Times, Dunaway said that she had not been evicted, but had chosen to leave the apartment because of its condition and that she had been spending less time in New York.

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |rowspan=3|1967 |''Hurry Sundown'' |Lou McDowell |Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles also for ''Bonnie and Clyde'' |- |''The Happening'' |Sandy | |- |''Bonnie and Clyde'' |Bonnie Parker |Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles also for ''Hurry Sundown''Nominated — Academy Award for Best ActressNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |- |rowspan=2|1968 |''The Thomas Crown Affair'' |Vicki Anderson | |- |''A Place for Lovers'' |Julia | |- |rowspan=2|1969 |''The Extraordinary Seaman'' |Jennifer Winslow | |- |''The Arrangement'' |Gwen | |- |rowspan=2|1970 |''Little Big Man'' |Mrs. Louise Pendrake | |- |''Puzzle of a Downfall Child'' |Lou Andreas Sand |Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |- |rowspan=2|1971 |''The Deadly Trap'' |Jill | |- |''Doc'' |Katie Elder | |- |rowspan=2|1973 |''Oklahoma Crude'' |Lena Doyle | |- |''The Three Musketeers'' |Milady de Winter | |- |rowspan=3|1974 |''Chinatown'' |Evelyn Cross Mulwray |Nominated — Academy Award for Best ActressNominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading RoleNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |- |''The Towering Inferno'' |Susan Franklin | |- |''The Four Musketeers'' |Milady de Winter | |- |1975 |''Three Days of the Condor'' |Kathy Hale |Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |- |rowspan=3|1976 |''Network'' |Diana Christensen |Academy Award for Best ActressDavid di Donatello for Best Foreign ActressGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture DramaKansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActressNominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role |- |''The Disappearance of Aimee'' |Aimee Semple McPherson | |- |''Voyage of the Damned'' |Denise Kreisler | |- |1978 |''Eyes of Laura Mars'' |Laura Mars | |- |1979 |''The Champ'' |Annie | |- |1980 |''The First Deadly Sin'' |Barbara Delaney | |- |rowspan=2|1981 |''Mommie Dearest'' |Joan Crawford |Razzie Award for Worst Actress (tied with Bo Derek)Runner-up — National Society of Film Critics Award for Best ActressRunner-up — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress |- |''Evita Perón'' |Evita Perón |Marvin Chomsky, director |- |1983 |''The Wicked Lady'' |Lady Barbara Skelton | |- |rowspan=4|1984 |''Ordeal by Innocence'' |Rachel Argyle | |- |''Supergirl'' |Selena | |- |''Ellis Island'' |Maud Charteris |Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film |- |''Terror in the Aisles'' | |archival footage |- |1985 |''Thirteen at Dinner'' |Jane Wilkinson | |- |1986 |''Raspberry Ripple'' |Matron + "M" | |- |1987 |''Barfly'' |Wanda Wilcox |Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |- |rowspan=3|1988 |''Midnight Crossing'' |Helen Barton | |- |''The Gamble'' |Countess Matilda Von Wallenstein |''La Partita'' |- |''Burning Secret'' |Mrs. Sonya Tuchman | |- |rowspan=3|1989 |''Frames from the Edge'' |Herself |documentary |- |''On a Moonlit Night'' |Mrs. Colbert |''In una notte di chiaro di luna'' |- |''Wait Until Spring, Bandini'' |Mrs. Hildegarde | |- |rowspan=2|1990 |''The Handmaid's Tale'' |Serena Joy | |- |''The Two Jakes'' |Evelyn Mulwray |voice only |- |1991 |''Scorchers'' |Thais | |- |1992 |''Double Edge'' |Faye Milano |''Lahav Hatzui'' |- |rowspan=2|1993 |''Arizona Dream'' |Elaine Stalker | |- |''The Temp'' |Charlene Towne | |- |rowspan=3|1995 |''Unzipped'' |Herself – uncredited |Documentary |- |''Don Juan DeMarco'' |Marilyn Mickler | |- |''Drunks'' |Becky | |- |rowspan=3|1996 |''Dunston Checks In'' |Mrs. Dubrow | |- |''Albino Alligator'' |Janet Boudreaux | |- |''The Chamber'' |Lee Cayhall Bowen | |- |rowspan=3|1997 |''In Praise of Older Women'' |Condesa | |- |''The Twilight of the Golds'' |Phyllis Gold |Nominated — CableACE Award for Supporting Actress in a Movie or MiniseriesNominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie |- |''Rebecca'' |Mrs. van Hopper |TV miniseries |- |1998 |''Gia'' |Wilhelmina Cooper |Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television FilmNominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film |- |rowspan=3|1999 |''Love Lies Bleeding'' |Josephine Butler | |- |''The Thomas Crown Affair'' |The Psychiatrist | |- |''The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc'' |Yolande of Aragon | |- |rowspan=3|2000 |''The Yards'' |Kitty Olchin | |- |''Stanley's Gig'' |Leila | |- |''Running Mates'' |Meg Gable |Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film |- |rowspan=2|2001 |''The Yellow Bird'' |Aurora Beavis |Short subject – also director |- |''Festival in Cannes'' |Herself |Cameo |- |rowspan=4|2002 |''Mid-Century'' |Blue/Mother | |- |''Changing Hearts'' |Betty Miller | |- |''The Rules of Attraction'' |Mrs. Eve Denton | |- |''Man of Faith'' |Mae West | |- |2003 |''Blind Horizon'' |Ms. K | |- |rowspan=3|2004 |''Last Goodbye'' |Sean Winston | |- |''El Padrino'' |Atty. Gen. Navarro | |- |''Jennifer's Shadow'' |Mary Ellen Cassi | |- |2005 |''Ghosts Never Sleep'' |Kathleen Dolan | |- |rowspan=3|2006 |''Cut Off'' |Marilyn Burton | |- |''Love Hollywood Style'' |God | |- |''Rain'' |Isabel Hudson | |- |rowspan=3|2007 |''Cougar Club'' |Edith Birnbaum | |- |''Say It in Russian'' |Jacqueline de Rossy | |- |''The Gene Generation'' |Josephine Hayden | |- |rowspan=2 |2008 |''Flick'' |Lieutenant Annie McKenzie | |- |''La Rabbia'' |Madre | |- |rowspan=4|2009 |''The Seduction of Dr. Fugazzi'' |Detective Rowland | |- |''Midnight Bayou'' |Odette | Lifetime made-for-TV movie |- |''Caroline & The Magic Stone'' |Filomena | |- |''Balladyna'' |Dr Ash | USA-Poland co-production |- |rowspan=1|2010 |''A Family Thanksgiving'' |Gina |Hallmark Channel Original Movie |}

Guest appearances

''Grey's Anatomy'' - Season 5, Episode 16 "An Honest Mistake" as Dr. Margaret Campbell (2009)

''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' "Kiss-Kiss, Bye-Bye" January 26, 2006 as Lois O'Neill

''Alias'' "The Abduction" (2002); "A Higher Echelon" (2003); "The Getaway" (2003), as Ariana Kane

''Soul Food'' - Season 3, Episode 1 - "Tonight at Noon" (2002)

''Road to Avonlea'' - Season 6, Episode 76 - "What a Tangled Web We Weave" (1995)

''Columbo: It's All in the Game'' (1993), as Lauren Staton

References

External links

The Guardian">Interview with The Guardian

Category:American film actors Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American television actors Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners Category:Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Boston University alumni Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Actors from Florida Category:University of Florida alumni Category:Florida State University alumni Category:Military brats Category:People from Jackson County, Florida Category:1941 births Category:Living people

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Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
name	Elena Roger
birth date	October 27, 1974
birth place	Buenos Aires, Argentina
occupation	actress, singer
yearsactive	1997–present }}

Elena Silvia Roger (born October 27, 1974, Buenos Aires, Argentina ) is an Argentine-born, British-based actress who won the 2009 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Édith Piaf in ''Piaf''. She has also appeared in the West End in ''Evita'', ''Boeing-Boeing'', and ''Passion''.

Argentinian Career

Prior to being cast as Eva Perón in the West End revival of ''Evita,'' Roger was already an accomplished performer in her native Buenos Aires. In 1997, she was nominated for the Trinidad Guevara Award as Best Breakthrough Female for her work in ''Yo Que Tu Me Enamoraba.'' She went on to appear in a number of productions including ''Nine'', ''Houdini'', ''Beauty and the Beast'', and ''Fiddler on the Roof'', as well as starring in '' Les Misérables ''as Fantine, and ''Saturday Night Fever'' as Annette. For the 2002/2003 season, she was nominated for an ACE Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in ''Jazz, Swing, Tap.'' The following season, she starred in the show, ''Mina...che cosa sei?,'' which she coauthored with the show’s director, Valeria Ambrosio. Roger won the ACE Award for Best Actress in a Musical for this performance. She has also appeared on several Argentinian television programs, including ''Hombres de Honor,'' ''Pensionados,'' and ''El sodero de mi vida.'' Internationally, she briefly toured Europe with ''Tango por Dos.''

West End Career

While doing research in Buenos Aires for the 2006 West End revival of Evita, an employee of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group saw Roger perform and suggested her for the title role of the show. After several rounds of auditions, Roger was cast as Eva Perón and performed the role to much critical acclaim. She was nominated for a 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance at the Adelphi Theatre but lost the award to Jenna Russell for her performance in ''Sunday in the Park with George''. Roger next appeared on the London stage as Gabriella in the hit production of ''Boeing-Boeing,'' directed by Matthew Warchus at the Comedy Theatre. In 2008, Roger played the title role in the Donmar Warehouse’s production of ''Piaf'' and once again received rave reviews. The show eventually transferred to the larger Vaudeville Theatre, and Roger won the 2009 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She subsequently toured internationally with ''Piaf'' including a stop in her hometown of Buenos Aires. During her time back in Buenos Aires, she revived her performance in ''Mina...che cosa sei?'' for a brief run. From September 10 through November 21, 2010, Roger starred as Fosca in a revival of the Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical ''Passion'' for a limited engagement at the Donmar Warehouse. On February 7, 2011, it was announced that Roger was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award as Best Actress in a Musical for the third time for her work in this role.

Recordings

Roger can be heard on the cast albums of ''Mina...che cosa sei? '' and ''Evita.'' She has also recorded two solo albums: ''Vientos Del Sur'' and a live album recorded in Buenos Aires entitled ''Recorriendo el Rock Nacional (Nueva Edi). ''

''Evita'' on Broadway

Roger will return to the role of Eva Perón in a new Broadway revival of ''Evita'' with previews beginning in March of 2012 and an opening night in April. The production will be directed by Michael Grandage and choreographed by Rob Ashford. Pop singer Ricky Martin will co-star as Che.

References

External links

Elena Roger @ Livejournal

Category:1974 births Category:Argentine stage actors Category:Argentine television actors Category:Argentine female singers Category:People from Buenos Aires Category:Living people Category:Olivier Award winners

es:Elena Roger

Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
honorific-prefix	Her Excellency
name	Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
order	55th President of Argentina
term start	10 December 2007
predecessor	Néstor Kirchner
vicepresident	Julio Cobos
order2	First Lady of Argentina
term start2	25 May 2003
term end2	10 December 2007
preceded2	Hilda Duhalde
succeeded2	Néstor Kirchner (First Spouse of Argentina)
order3	Senator of Argentina For Buenos Aires Province
order4	Senator of Argentina For Santa Cruz
term3	10 December 2005 – 28 November 2007
term4	10 December 2001 – 9 December 200510 December 1995 – 3 December 1997
order6	Deputy of Argentina For Santa Cruz
term start6	10 December 1997
term end6	9 December 2001
birth date	February 19, 1953
birth place	La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
spouse	Néstor Kirchner (1975–2010 (his death))
party	Front for Victory (FPV)Justicialist Party (PJ)
children	Máximo KirchnerFlorencia Kirchner
profession	Lawyer
alma mater	National University of La Plata
religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature	CF SIGNATURE.svg
Website	The Casa Rosada }}

Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), commonly known as Cristina Fernández or Cristina Kirchner (or simply Cristina), is the 55th and current President of Argentina and the widow of former President Néstor Kirchner. She is Argentina's first elected female President, and the second female President ever to serve (after Isabel Martínez de Perón, 1974–1976). A Justicialist, Fernández served one term as National Deputy and three terms as National Senator for both Santa Cruz and Buenos Aires Provinces.

A native of La Plata, Buenos Aires, Fernández is a graduate of the National University of La Plata. She met her husband during her studies, and they moved to Santa Cruz to work as lawyers. In May 1991, she was elected to the provincial legislature. Between 1995 and 2007, she was repeatedly elected to the Argentine National Congress, both as a National Deputy and National Senator. During Kirchner's presidency (2003–2007) she acted as First Lady. Fernández was chosen as the Front for Victory presidential candidate in 2007. In the October 2007 general election she obtained 45.3% of the vote and a 22% lead over her nearest rival, avoiding the need for a runoff. She was inaugurated on December 10, 2007. As a First Lady, and later President, she has become a fashion icon for women, a notable advocate for human rights, poverty awareness and health improvement.

Personal life

Fernández was born in Ringuelet, a suburb west of La Plata, Province of Buenos Aires, daughter of Eduardo Fernández and Ofelia Esther Wilhelm. She studied law at the National University of La Plata during the 1970s and became active in the Peronist Youth. During her studies there, she met her future spouse, Néstor Kirchner. They were married on March 9, 1975, and had two children: Máximo and Florencia. Néstor died on October 27, 2010 after suffering a heart attack.

Political career

Fernández started her political career in the Peronist Youth movement of the Justicialist Party in the 1970s. During the period of authoritarian rule in the country, she and Néstor dropped out of politics and practiced law in Río Gallegos. She picked up politics again in the late 1980s, and was elected to the Santa Cruz Provincial Legislature in 1989, a position to which she was re-elected in 1993.

In 1995, Fernández was elected to represent Santa Cruz in the Senate. She was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1997, and in 2001, returned to the Senate. Fernández helped with her husband's successful campaign for the presidency in 2003, but without making joint public appearances. In the April 27, 2003, presidential election first round, former president Carlos Saúl Menem won the greatest number of votes (25%), but failed to get the votes necessary to win an overall majority. A second-round run-off vote between Menem and runner-up Néstor Kirchner was scheduled for May 18. Feeling certain that he was about to face a sound electoral defeat, Menem decided to withdraw his candidacy, thus automatically making Kirchner the new president, with 22% of the votes. This was the lowest number in the history of the country.

During her husband's term, Fernández became the First Lady of the country. In that role, she worked as an itinerant ambassador for his government. Her highly combative speech style polarized Argentine politics, recalling the style of Eva Perón. Although she repeatedly rejected the comparison later, Cristina Fernández once said in an interview that she identified herself "with the Evita of the hair in a bun and the clenched fist before a microphone" (the typical image of Eva Perón during public speeches) more than with the "miraculous Eva" of her mother's time, who had come "to bring work and the right to vote for women".

At the October 2005 legislative elections, Fernández was her party's main candidate for Senator in the Province of Buenos Aires district. She ran a heated campaign against Hilda González de Duhalde, the wife of former president Eduardo Duhalde. Fernández won the elections by 45,77%, followed by González de Duhalde with 20,43%.

Election to Presidency of Argentina

With Fernández leading all the pre-election polls by a wide margin, her challengers were trying to force her into a run-off. She needed either more than 45% of the vote, or 40% of the vote and a lead of more than 10% over her nearest rival, to win outright. Fernández won the election in the first round with 45.3% of the vote, followed by 22% for Elisa Carrió (candidate for the Civic Coalition) and 16% for former Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna. Eleven others split the remaining 15%. Kirchner was popular among the suburban working class and the rural poor, while Carrió received more support from the urban middle class, as did Lavagna. Of note, Kirchner lost the election in the three largest cities (Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Rosario), although she won in most other places elsewhere, including the large provincial capitals such as Mendoza and Tucumán.

On November 14, the president-elect publicly announced the names of her new cabinet, which was sworn in on December 10. Of the 12 ministers appointed, seven were already ministers in Néstor Kirchner's government, while the other five took office for the first time. Three other ministries were created afterwards.

The president elect began a four-year term on December 10, 2007, facing challenges including inflation, union demands for higher salaries, private investment in key areas, lack of institutional credibility (exemplified by the controversy surrounding the national statistics bureau, INDEC), utility companies demanding authorization to raise their fees, low availability of cheap credit to the private sector, and the upcoming negotiation of the defaulted foreign debt with the Paris Club. Kirchner was the second female president of Argentina, after Isabel Martínez de Perón, but unlike Perón, Kirchner was the head of the ballot, whereas Isabel Perón was elected as vice president of Juan Domingo Perón and became president after his death. The transition from Néstor Kirchner to Cristina Kirchner was also the first time when a democratic head of state was replaced by his spouse, without involving the death of any of them. Néstor Kirchner stayed active in politics despite not being the president, and worked alongside Cristina Kirchner. The press developed the term "''presidential marriage''" to make reference to both of them at once. Some political analysts compared this type of government with a diarchy. However, on January 31, in a special meeting with Kirchner, the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, Earl Anthony Wayne, clarified that the allegations "were never made by the United States government," and the dispute cooled down. Having said that the prosecutors making the charges are part of the independent judicial branch of the U.S. government

Elisa Carrió and María Estenssoro, both high ranking members of the main opposition parties, have claimed that the Argentine government's response to the allegations and its criticism of the U.S. are a "smokescreen", that the U.S. involvement in the affair was merely symptomatic, and the root cause of the scandal is corruption in the Argentine and Venezuelan governments.

2008

Riding a wave of approval during a dramatic economic recovery from a 2001–2002 crisis, the Kirchners' FPV had prevailed enjoyed increasingly large majorities in Congress, reaching their peak following the 2007 general elections (with 153 Congressmen and 44 Senators, at the time). In March 2008, Kirchner introduced a new sliding-scale taxation system for agricultural exports, effectively raising levies on soybean exports from 35% to 44% at the time of the announcement. This led to a nationwide lockout by farming associations, starting on March 12, with the aim of forcing the government to back down on the new taxation scheme. They were joined on March 25 by thousands of pot-banging demonstrators massed around the Buenos Aires Obelisk and in front of the presidential palace.

Protests extended across the country. In Buenos Aires, hours after Kirchner attacked farmers for their two-week strike and "abundant" profits, there were violent incidents between government supporters and opponents, to which the police was accused of wilfully turning a blind eye. The media was harshly critical of Luis D'Elía, a former government official who took part in the incidents, with some media sources and members of the opposition (notably Elisa Carrió), claiming that he and his followers had disrupted the protest pursuant to the government's orders. On April 1, the government organised a rally during which thousands of pro-government protesters marched through downtown Buenos Aires in support of the bill increasing Argentina's export taxes on the basis of a sliding scale; at the event, Kirchner called on farmers to act "as part of a country, not as owners of a country."

In April 2008, on the 26th anniversary of the Falklands War, Kirchner stepped up Argentine claims to the Falkland Islands. She called Argentina's rights to the islands "inalienable".

The large majorities in the Argentine Congress enjoyed by the Front for Victory could not ultimately guarantee a legislative blank check: on July 16, 2008, the presidentially sponsored bill met with deadlock, and was ultimately defeated by the tie-breaking "no" vote of Vice President Julio Cobos himself. The controversy cost the FPV 16 Congressmen and 4 Senators by way of defections. This put an end to the 2008 Argentine government conflict with the agricultural sector, though it cost Cobos access to the executive branch of the government. He was reportedly considered "a traitor" by the followers of Kirchner's administration. Cobos denied that he would resign, although the relationship between the President and the Vice President has an uncertain future.

A poll result published in ''El País'', Spain's most widely circulated daily newspaper, revealed that following the protests, Fernández's approval rating had "plummeted" from 57.8% at the start of her administration to an unprecedented 23%. Once recovered from the conflict with agrarian interests, Cristina Kirchner's public approval improved; her job approval ratings rose by 30% (''Poliarquía'', 08/22/08). Her inflexible handling of the protests and reluctance to review the policies that sparked the protest have led to speculation that it is her husband, predecessor in office and current leader of the Justicialist Party, Néstor Kirchner, who controls her administration. The British weekly newspaper ''The Economist'' has described this situation as Kirchner "paying the price for her husband's pig-headedness", and as of February 2009, her job approval rating was 28%.

On October 20, 2008, Fernández proposed the transfer of nearly US$30 billion in private pension holdings to the social security system, a law that was passed by Congress in late November.

President Cristina Kirchner is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.

Fernández was invited to the prestigious Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy in Washington, D.C., on November 15, 2008, by President George W. Bush. During her stay in Washington, she held meetings with Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown), Madeleine Albright (representing U.S. President-elect Barack Obama), Senator Christopher Dodd and Australia's Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd at the Park Hyatt Hotel. She then attended the G20 meeting in London April 2, 2009 and was given a seat of honour at the dinner held the night before at 10 Downing Street, when she was seated across from President Obama.

Also in the year 2008, Cristina Kirchner vetoed the "Law of protection of the glaciers" ( ), which had been approved almost unanimously in Congress (only 3 senators opposed the law). Critics have stated that the President's attitude would threaten over 75% of the country's water reserves.

Cristina Kirchner has travelled extensively as president, visiting Algeria, Brazil, Cuba, Egypt, France, Libya, Mexico, Qatar, Russia, Spain, the UK, the U.S. and Venezuela, among other nations.

2009

Following the June 28, 2009, mid-term elections, the ruling FPV's party list lost its absolute majority in both houses of Congress, shedding a further 24 seats in the Lower House (including allies) and 4 in the Senate. They lost in the four most important electoral districts (home to 60% of Argentines), and among these, the loss was narrow only in the Province of Buenos Aires. The FPV obtained a very narrow victory, overall, as a percentage of the national vote, and retained their plurality in Congress. This will be reflected in strengthened opposition alliances, notably the center-right Unión Pro, the centrist Civic Coalition and the left-wing Proyecto Sur, when elected candidates in both chambers take office on December 11, 2009.

Allegations of impropriety have contributed increasingly to the Kirchners' decline in approval, as well. The couple's own, latest federal financial disclosure in July 2009 revealed an increase in their personal assets by 7 times, since Néstor Kirchner's 2003 inaugural. The increase was partly the product of land deals in El Calafate, a scenic, Santa Cruz Province town where the couple has long vacationed and own property (including of land and two hotels).

On October 17, 2009, President Cristina Fernández proposed the compulsory submission of DNA samples in cases related to crimes against humanity, in a move lauded by the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, but excoriated by opposition figures as a political move against Clarín Media Group Chairperson Ernestina Herrera de Noble, who is in litigation over her suspected adoption of two children of the "disappeared," and whose hitherto cordial relations with Kirchnerism had recently soured. Similar motives are alleged by the opposition against the president's Media Law, which would restrict the number of media licences per proprietor and allocate a greater share of these to state and NGOs, thereby limiting the influence of ''Clarín'' and the conservative ''La Nación''. The president's proposed enactment of mandatory primary elections for all of Argentina's myriad political parties, and for every elected post, was likewise rejected by opposition figures, who charged that these reforms could stymy minor parties and the formation of new ones.

Following charges of embezzlement filed by a local attorney, Enrique Piragini, on October 29, Federal Judge Norberto Oyarbide ordered an accounting expert to investigate the origin of the Kirchners’ wealth. Public records show that since their arrival to power in 2003, the declared assets of Cristina and Néstor Kirchner have increased by 572%. A preliminary report on the investigation by the Argentine Anti Corruption Office (OA) established that the official figures provided by the Kirchners "don't stack up". The investigation was suspended by Judge Oyarbide on December 30, though a week later, Piragini appealed the ruling.

On 29 October 2009 she launched a universal child benefit plan ( ) as a way to fight poverty with the goal to reach approximately five million children and youths. Since its creation, the program has been lauded for having boosted school attendance rates and reduced poverty amongst families

2010

The year began with controversy surrounding the president's order that a US$6.7 billion escrow account be opened at the Central Bank for the purpose of retiring high-interest bonds, whose principal is tied to inflation. The move met with the opposition of Central Bank President Martín Redrado, who refused to implement it, and following an impasse, he was dismissed by presidential decree on January 7, 2010.

Redrado refused to abide by the initial decree removing him from the presidency of the Central Bank, however, and petitioned for a judicial power to keep him in office. Accordingly, the president enacted another decree for his dismissal, citing "mis-conduct" on Redrado's part. The legitimacy of this new decree was questioned as well, as his dismissal would deny Redrado due process. Congress was at a recess period at the time, but most of its opposition members considered returning to override the decrees through an extraordinary session. The session became a source of controversy as well: Kirchner considered that, according to the 63rd article of the Constitution, only the President may call for an extraordinary session while the Congress is in recess. Cobos replied instead that all regulations concerning decrees require the immediate advise and consent of Congress, that the body's by-laws (56 and 57) allow extraordinary sessions called by any member, and that the commission formed for that purpose functions all at all times, even during recess.

The planned use of foreign exchange reserves through a Necessity and Urgency Decree was itself questioned by several opposition figures, who argued that such a decree may not meet a threshold of "necessity" and "urgency" required by the Constitution of Argentina for its enactment. Judge María José Sarmiento handed down a ruling preventing said use of reserves, and the Government reacted by appealing the ruling. President Kirchner defended the policy as a cost saving maneuver, whereby government bonds paying out 15 percent interest would be retired from the market. The move, however, also provided numerous vulture funds (holdouts from the 2005 debt restructuring who had resorted to the courts in a bid for higher returns on their defaulted bonds) a legal argument against the central bank's autarky, and thus facilitated a judgement lien on January 12 against a central bank account in New York.

Judge Sarmiento also annulled the decree that removed Redrado and reinstated him as President of the Central Bank the following day. The ruling also refuted claims of mis-conduct cited by President Cristina Kirchner to justify his removal. International media described the attempted removal of Redrado as authoritarian, while criticizing the planned use of reserves for debt retirement, as well as accelerating spending growth, as fiscally irresponsible. Opposition Congresswoman Elisa Carrió, a likely candidate in the upcoming 2011 presidential campaign, has raised the possibility of impeachment procedures against Mrs. Kirchner.

At the start of the month of February 2010, one of Cristina Fernández's private asessors resigned his post due to the claims of "illicit gain". Just two weeks afterwards, another of her private asesors, Julio Daniel Álvarez, resigned for the same reason.

On February 22, 2010, British oil explorer Desire Petroleum, started drilling exploration wells some north of the disputed Falkland/Malvinas Islands, despite strong opposition from Argentina which took the issue to the Latin America and Caribbean Presidents summit where it received unanimous support. According to geological surveys carried out in 1998, there could be of oil in the area around the islands but the 2010 drill carried out poor results. As a result Desire's share price plummeted and the company announced further work could begin later this year (2010).

In March 2010 Fernández made an historic amends trip to Peru a country with whom relations had been adversely affected following the Carlos Menem administration's illegal sale of weapons to Ecuador in the 1990s. In the same month Fernández received the visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Buenos Aires, where she received great support for the way her administration was managing the foreign debt issue and emphasized the positive relationship between the two countries something which was not reported by local major news media

In April 2010, Chile's new president Sebastián Piñera was received in Buenos Aires on his first foreign tour abroad and reaffirmed the current strong ties between the two countries. following which Cristina Fernández attended the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC, after which President Barack Obama thanked Argentina for its role in international stabilization and earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. Back in Buenos Aires, she received the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev the first such visit in Argentina's history. Two days later, the Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyễn Tấn Dũng arrived. On April 19, she was invited to the bicentennary of the independence celebrations in Venezuela, where she was the main speaker in front of the National Assembly. She signed 25 trade agreements with Venezuela relating to food, technology and energy.

In May 2010, the President traveled to Spain for the European Union-Latin America and the Caribbean summit, where she was asked to compare the 2010 European sovereign debt crisis and the 2001 Argentine's default. Back in Buenos Aires, during the Argentina Bicentennial celebrations, Cristina Fernández did not participate in the military parade of 5,000 troops (which included delegations of Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia, etc.) on the 9 de Julio Avenue, which was considered a gest of contempt towards the Argentine Armed Forces.

In June 2010, her administration completed the debt swap (which was started by former president Néstor Kirchner in 2005) clearing 92% of the bad debt left from its sovereign default in 2001. Argentina external debt now represents 30% of the country's GDP, whilst the Central Bank foreign reserves reached $49 billion {USD}, more than the amount that was available when the decision to pay foreign debt earlier in the year was taken.

Also in June 2010, she gave a speech at the International Trade Union Confederation (CSI) Global Summit, being held in Vancouver, Canada where she asserted that "many Euro-zone countries today have applied the same policies that led Argentina to disaster (in 2001)," stating, also, that "it's an inescapable responsibility of the government to intervene in the financial system.". Later, she traveled to Toronto to attend the G20 Summit and spoke against the EU fiscal austerity plans fearing this would lead to a slow down in the global economy. French President Nicolas Sarkozy responded by saying that the Latin American representatives who reject the Eurozone adjustments do not know the "harrassment" to the Euro , to which Cristina Fernández responded that he shouldn't "question somebody" just because he doesn't "agree" with what they say and also clarified that Argentina is interested in the euro because parts of its reserves are held in euros and that she's "sure that Sarkozy does not have even one cent in Argentine pesos in his Central Bank.". Later addressing the press she added, "In Latin America we can give cathedra about harassment and seizure." She also had a chance to speak with new British PM David Cameron.

In July 2010, she traveled to the People's Republic of China with the goal of, according the Chinese embassy at Buenos Aires, strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries On her return, she signed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in Argentina. This strained the government's already strained relationship with the Catholic Church. She also reaffirmed her policy of debt reduction in announcing to continue to pay foreign debt with Central Bank foreign reserves which reached a country historic record of $51 billion USD in July. In August 2010, Cristina Fernández began to use her Twitter account. She also preceded the 39th Mercosur summit at San Juan where the trade bloc agrees to reduce customs fees and signs a free-trade deal with Egypt

On September 2010, it was announced that Argentina was elected president of the Group of 77+China and prepared to act as a ‘bridge” with G-20 major economies to which it also belongs Cristina Fernández visited Chile during their Bicentenary celebrations where she also assisted at the baptism of a Chilean baby, Anaís Escobar Maldonado, born in the Argentine Hospital deployed at Curico after the earthquake. The visit had a high profile in the media mainly because of the possible extradition to Chile of Sergio Apablaza. She met with president Sebastian Piñera and participated in the festivities at the national stadium. She also confirmed the celebration of the III bi-national cabinet meeting for next October. Fernández then departed for New York to give her United Nations General Assembly speech where she once again criticized Britain over the Falklands (Malvinas) issue, and Iran for the 1994 AMIA bombing whilst giving her support for an Israeli-Palestinian dialogue and an eventual Palestinian state. On September 30 she hosted the UNASUR presidents' emergency summit at Buenos Aires due the Ecuador crisis and started an official visit to Germany the following day in order to participate as a Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair and meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel. In October she inaugurates the III News Agencies World Congress to be held in Bariloche. This same month, and as part of the 2006 civilian nuclear-power reactivation program, Fernández reopened the Pilcaniyeu uranium enrichment plant, put on ice in the 1990s, amid worsening shortages of natural gas. Following the death of her spouse (see below), Cristina Fernández resumed activities and flew to Asia for the G20 Seoul summit. After her return she announces that the Paris Club agrees to debt talks without the IMF intervention as proposed by Argentina since 2008. These negotiations will result in the settlement of the last portion of the sovereign debt defaulted in the 2001 crisis after the successful restructuring debts of 2005 and 2009. On November she also participated on the UNASUR Summit at Guyana after which will host the XX Ibero-American Summit at Mar del Plata

On the morning of 27 October 2010, her husband, former President Néstor Kirchner, died of a heart failure at the Hospital Jose Formenti in El Calafate, Santa Cruz Province. He had been subject to two coronary interventions earlier in the year (2010). On February 7, 2010, he developed problems with the common carotid artery and needed surgery. On September 11, he was intervened because of coronary artery blockage and needed an angioplasty. Néstor Kirchner had a massive state funeral at the Casa Rosada.

2011

The 2011 year is influenced by the general election that will take place in October. The youth organization the Cámpora increased its influence within the government, disputing offices and candidacies with the traditional structures of the Justicialist Party and the CGT. Cristina Fernández chose Daniel Filmus as mayor of Buenos Aires candidate. Nevertheless, she has not clarified whether she will run for a new term as president or not. On 21 June 2011 Cristina Fernández announced she will run for a second term as president. A few days later, she announced that Amado Boudou would run for the vicepresidency in her ticket. Most candidates for deputies were chosen personally by her, favoring the members of the Cámpora.

Cristina Fernandez had international conflicts with Brazil, regarding a disagreement over the trade quotas between the countries. She also had conflicts with the United States, after seizing a plane of the US military.

Cabinet

On November 14, 2007, the president-elect publicly announced the names of her new cabinet, which was sworn in on December 10. Of the 12 ministers appointed, seven were already ministers in Néstor Kirchner's government, while the other five took office for the first time. Three other ministries were created afterwards.

Relationship with the media

Fernández and her husband have always had a tempestuous relationship with the national media, particularly from 2007 onwards (despite previous excellent rapport) with Grupo Clarín corporation which is owner of video cable networks, multiple TV Channels, radios, the main newspaper and through most of a decade before 2010 the monopoly of the Argentine football, a so-called opinion-former.

In April 2008, Kirchner received a stern public rebuke from the Argentine media owners Association (Spanish: ''Asociación de Entidades Periodísticas Argentinas'', or ADEPA) for having publicly accused the popular cartoonist Hermenegildo Sábat of behaving like a "quasi mafioso". In addition, a government proposal to create a watchdog to monitor racism and discrimination was received with suspicion by ADEPA, who called it a "covert attempt to control the media". Néstor Kirchner, Cristina's husband and predecessor in office, received a similar rebuke for publicly and falsely denouncing Joaquín Morales Solá, a journalist critical of the government, for having produced an inflammatory text published in 1978.

On September 11, 2009, she advanced the decriminalization of injurious calumny against public officials, a charge which had, in 2000, resulted in a prison term of one year for Eduardo Kimel, a journalist investigating the San Patricio Church massacre of 1976. She drew fire from a highly controversial Audiovisual Media Law proposed shortly afterwards, however. Defended by the government as a reform intended to fragment ownership of media companies as to encourage plurality of opinion, the bill was criticised by part of the opposition as a means to silence voices critical of the government, especially those in the Clarín media group (the country's largest). However, a significant amount of opposing congressmen voted in favor of the law, as they considered it was clearly an improvement on the existing one, and that the government had been willing to negotiate and modify parts of the proposed new law to improve it.

The law has aroused further controversy, given that in its passing through the chambers of the legislature, the mandatory 7 day period between debate and assent of the new legislation was ignored. The view among the part of the opposition that opposed the bill is that Kirchner’s government tried to rush the law through parliament before December 2009, when the government could have lost its absolute majorities in Congress.

Dr. Lauro Laíño, the president of ADEPA (media owners), in a speech given on the 24 September 2009, opposed the proposed law, and added that in Latin America, especially in Venezuela and Argentina, “press freedom was being undermined under the suspicious pretext of plurality” Others, notably press freedom advocacy group Reporters Sans Frontières, have expressed some support for the measure, citing the need to repeal the Radio Broadcast Law of 1980 enacted by the National Reorganization Process, Argentina's last military government.

The acrimony between Cristina Kirchner's government and the national media was exacerbated by a series of lock-ins carried out by the truck drivers' union led by Pablo Moyano, son of Hugo Moyano, a close ally of the Kirchner government. During the lock in, the country's most widely circulated newspapers (''Clarín'' and ''La Nación'') were prevented by force and threats of violence from distributing papers to newsstands. On 7 November 2009, the Association of Newspaper Editors of Buenos Aires (AEDBA) issued a statement in which it claimed that the truck drivers' unions' actions had been the fiercest attack on the free circulation of newspapers the country had seen since its return to democratic rule in 1983.

On 2010 the Supreme Court of Argentina ruled that the judicial movement made by an opposition deputy who tried to suspend the new Media Law, which was approved by the National Congress, was illegal.

Public image

In 2008, she was ranked by the magazine ''Forbes'' as thirteenth in the list of the 100 most powerful women in the world, being the second female head of government in the list below Angela Merkel. In 2009 she rose to eleventh, but in 2010 she fell to sixty-eighth. In 2010, she was ranked by the magazine ''Time'' as second in the list of the Top 10 Female Leaders of the World.

Her public image decreased during the conflict with the agricultural sector, leading to a defeat of the party in 2009. The Death and state funeral of Néstor Kirchner increased her public image again.

Her speeches work with appeals to emotion, both at the beginning and the end. She makes frequent appeals to pity by mentions to the death of her husband and her own pain about it. The achivements of both Néstor's administration and her own are treated with hyperbole and compared with the 2001 economic crisis.

Style

Cristina is known for being passionate about clothes. According to The Times, "Cristina has deployed her glamour and sexuality as potent weapons on her way to a goal that not even the legendary Eva Peron was able to achieve.". She likes the mixture of textures, colors and prints, and has some favorite designers from Argentina. She always wears makeup and high heels.

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is often criticized by observers - in both the media and the world of politics - for her excessive spending on clothes, jewelry and shoes. She rarely wears the same attire twice and in many cases, has been criticized for arriving late to meetings with international leaders, because she was getting dressed.

Since Néstor's death, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has decided to wear only black attire. So far, she has worn more than 200 different black outfits, including tailleurs, suits, pants, evening dresses and jackets.

Bibliography

References

External links

Cristina Fernandez on Honduras Coup Office of the President Official site of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Senate of the Argentine Republic website Extensive biography by CIDOB Foundation

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Category:Presidents of Argentina Category:Current national leaders Category:Members of the Argentine Senate Category:Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies Category:Justicialist Party politicians Category:Argentine lawyers Category:People from La Plata Category:Argentine Roman Catholics Category:University of La Plata alumni Category:Female heads of government Category:Female heads of state Category:Argentine women in politics Category:Spouses of the Presidents of Argentina Category:Néstor Kirchner Category:1953 births Category:Living people

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