  marÃ­a eva duarte de perÃ³n (7 may 1919 â 26 july 1952) was the second wife of argentine president juan perÃ³n (1895â1974) and served as the first lady of argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. she is usually referred to as eva perÃ³n (), or by the affectionate spanish language diminutive evita. she was born in the village of los toldos in the pampas, rural argentina in 1919, the youngest of five children. at 15 in 1934, she moved to the nation's capital of buenos aires to pursue a career as a stage, radio, and film actress. she met colonel juan perÃ³n there on 22 january 1944 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. juan perÃ³n was elected president of argentina in 1946; during the next 6 years, eva perÃ³n 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 perÃ³n foundation, championed women's suffrage in argentina, and founded and ran the nation's first large-scale female political party, the female peronist party. 
1919_births 1952_deaths 20th-century_Argentine_actresses Argentine_Roman_Catholics Argentine_actor-politicians Argentine_feminists Argentine_film_actresses Argentine_people_of_Basque_descent Argentine_people_of_Spanish_descent Argentine_stage_actresses Argentine_suffragists Argentine_women_in_politics Burials_at_La_Recoleta_Cemetery Cancer_deaths_in_Argentina Deaths_from_cervical_cancer Eva_PerA3n First_Ladies_and_Gentlemen_of_Argentina Folk_saints Justicialist_Party_politicians Mummies People_from_Buenos_Aires_Province Populism Recipients_of_the_Order_of_the_Liberator_General_San_Martin Roman_Catholic_feminists