Evita

María Eva Duarte de Perón, known to the world as Evita, stands with Jesus Christ as a highly influential historical figure who lived only 33 years. The similarities do not end there: as Argentine novelist Tomás Eloy Martínez has observed, Evita came to “symbolize certain naïve, 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 . . . myths which somehow reproduce the image of Christ.” During her life she was elevated to the status of “spiritual leader” of her country, Argentina, and after death she was regarded there as a martyr and a saint by her many followers. A visit to the museum dedicated to Evita’s legacy in the Botánico neighborhood of Buenos Aires reveals the spirit of quasi-religious devotion that surrounds her: more than simply a collection of historical displays, the museum stands as a shrine to her legacy and intends to imbue its viewers with the spirit and beliefs of the deceased First Lady. In one of the rooms, the visitor stands in the presence of one of her most famous dresses in a centrally placed glass case, with the scent of roses artificially pumped into the air. Like many of the other objects, the dress is presented much as were the relics of medieval saint. Evita’s tomb in the same city’s Recoleta cemetery, constantly garlanded with fresh bouquets and notes of gratitude from pilgrims who have come to pay their respects, provides further evidence of her revered presence in Argentine culture. At the same time, the presence of the major artifacts of Evita’s person in these particular locations is also ironic and revealing of the great social divisions over which she presided. Botánico is a prestigious and wealthy neighborhood, and the Recoleta is the burial…