Santa Evita

[Tabac]

Having just returned from an 18-day trip to Chile and Argentina, I was interested in reading Tomás Eloy Martínez's book about Eva Perón, refered to in reviews as non-fiction novel.

I really enjoyed the style he used, having various persons involved in the events take their turns in the narration, during which the author would put himself in the spotlight for some commentaries of his own.

The novel deals with what happened to Evita's body after her death, and she certainly seems to have had quite an earthly journey while her soul was resting somewhere else (although at some points in the novel, various people felt a very clear presence of what might be called 'soul' while they were near the coffin).

I know that Juán Perón spent a small fortune for the best embalmer, a Dr. Ara, to come and take care of the body. The book also mentions by name (an American artist who existed, died recently, and has "scuptures" on exhibit in many American museums) who created at least two imitations "corpses" that were used as decoys to throw people who might want to steal her body off the track.

While In Argentina, we were told that the body was stolen, after several years buried in Italy, and returned before Juán Perón died and buried in the Duarte family plot in Buenos Aires. I heard nothing of the "fake" bodies. Is this part of the fiction, or is it true?

I know that there are Argentines that visit these boards, so I hope someone will be able to share some insight.

(By the way, I loved both countries and would love to give more time to explore Buenos Aires; unfortunately, there are just too many places I want to go to the first time.)

[Koa]

Unfortunately I can't help you as I don't know anything about the fake bodies and such, but I am quite interested in the character of Evita Peron. A few years ago I read a biography cos I was in my 'Argentinian phase' and moreover her character was quite popular due to the movie with Madonna (which I actually liked, say whatever you want). I think her story is very interesting but I'd like to know more about the political sides (which I think I partly missed at the time) and if she's still loved by the Argentinians and such.

[Snukes]

I also liked the movie. I remember after I watched it the first time, I went and looked up Evita in the encyclopedia. I was insenced to discover that after her death, Juan remarried, and THAT wife became vice president. Didn't seem fair to me for her to get the benefits of all the work Evita had done.

One is allowed to think things like that without knowing all the details. :)

Which I still don't, of course. I took a class about women in Latin American politics. It's been a good few years, and my focus was on Honduras and Nicaragua. So I don't really have anything to contribute, but wanted to add my second to being interested in more information...

[crisaor]

Well, it's really a fiction work, at least in some extent. Evita's corpse was missing at a point, that much is true, but the actual facts presented in the books, along with the names and characters, are entirely fictional. Of course, this doesn't mean that the book is unrealistic, on the contrary, it could be said that it is an educated guess of how things happened.
I couldn't say which one is the correct explanation to what happened to her corpse, but if I had to choose one, I think the one they told you here in Argentina rings truer. There's a huge myth regarding Eva Perón here, almost as if there's a need to mystify her memory. Even today, crooked politicians from all sides of the spectrum invoke her image in order to gain votes. Anyway, she wasn't that perfect being that is usually portrayed. It just sells better that way.

BTW: which places did you visit?

[faith]

I started reading the book once, but never finnished it, since I lost interest when I realized that the book wasn't about Evita's life, but the "life" of her body after her death.