ORR #3: Eva Peron

Title: Evita: The Real Life of Eva Peron

Author: Nicholas Fraser

Genre: Biography

Pages: 198

The book that I'm reading right now (the cover is the picture on the right) is really interesting. The story begins in a dusty village lost in the Argentine pampas, where a girl, born out of wedlock, scrambles her way to the capital city by the time she is fifteen. It ends with the embalmed corpse of Eva Peron being hidden away by nervous politicians for fear that if the working people of Argentina knew where it was buried, it would inspire them to revolution.In between Eva Peron became first the actress Eva Duarte, then the mistress of Colonel Perón, then, in October 1945 the president's wife. In the colorful, tumultuous setting of postwar Argentina, she wielded a power--spiritual and practical--that has few parallels outside of hereditary monarchy. She was literally idolized by millions but was hated and feared by many as well. She became Evita, the legend. One of her famous quotes is I am my own woman, that shows her power and her attitude towards herself: 

What does it mean to be a "self-actualized" human being?

To be a self actualized person is to achieve one's full potential, which means that one person achieves all that they wished to do in life, and I personally think that this would be the best feeling in the world, and I would be really lucky if I got to experience it. I think that self actualization kind of gives you the feeling that you have completed your mission in life, and that you can die in piece, without feeling regret or anything like that. 

What is one unique thing you have discovered about your figure?

I discovered that she went from being  poor person, to being the most significant person in Argentina, which is pretty impressive. Also she had died of cancer in the age of 33, which is sad, but she had made a difference in Argentina during the time when she was the First Lady, which is incredible considering the fact that she lived for such a short time. 

Eva Peron holding a speech in Argentina

Describe your figure's schooling and education?

Eva Peron didn't have much education because she wasn't in the right circumstances to undergo formal education, so she decided to be an actress, all before she met Juan Peron, who later became president of Argentina. So even though Eva didn't have much education she had managed to change a whole country for the short time that she lived, and that I find really important.