Visit a Museum Dedicated to Evita Perón

El Museo Evita, located at the barrio de Palermo  in a former Temporary Home for Women and Children in Need, has yet to make it into many of the guidebooks, but with time, it has potential to attract a number of visitors.

It is run by the Fundación Eva Perón. The building is a beautiful French architectural style house that dates back to the early 20th century, extensively remodelled in 1923. It was purchase by the Fundación Eva Peron in 1948 as Temporary Home #2.

When touring the museum you can gain an insight into this very dynamic Argentine woman. Each room devoted to a chapter of her life, from beginnings to death and beyond. Evita is one of the most important characters in Argentine history, worldwide know even before the incredibly successful shows by Andrew Lloyd Webber and the movie adaptation by Allan Parker. In her short run at the side of Juan Perón, she was able to bring the vote to women, establish social foundations desperately lacking in Argentina, solidify political support for her husband and do everything with a grace and style seldom seen on this scale.

She was also a great politician within this polarized world. Her enemies, both the landowning oligarchs (among whom she is buried with in the Cementerio de la Recoleta) and the Military (at least those not directly supporting her husband) despised her in levels that are really only hinted at in the musical and the movie as well as at the museum.

Evita was certainly much more than a song or movie, though that is how most foreigners get to know her. Admire or despise her, she was not a topic of discussion during much of the dark 30 years of military rule that followed the overthrow of Perón in 1955. She is by far the most important woman in Argentine history and probably the most charismatic of all.

The current elected president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirschner, is a devoted admirer of her work, and somehow she is trying to follow her footsteps. You can begin to understand Evita’s legacy better here at the museum. For more info visit the Fundación’s website or check this interesting video…

Museo Evita

Calle Lafinur 2988, Barrio de Palermo (map)

4807-0306

Photo credit: Victor Santa María on Flickr.