The book, "Evita: The Real Life of Eva Perón," by Nicholas Fraser evaluates the life and myth of Eva Perón. Despite a modest childhood, which she never spoke about publicly, Eva became the wife of president Juan Perón. As well as being an influential public figure in Argentina during the late 1940s and early 1950s, Eva also helped transform Argentine politics. Although many Argentineans idealized Eva, she also had enemies that despised her. Also, the obscurity of Eva's past contributed to the creation of many myths that surrounded her life. .
Throughout her life in the public eye, Eva never discussed her childhood. This is mainly because she felt humiliated by her family and their poverty. Before moving to Buenos Aires, Eva and her family lived in "a humiliating home even in Los Todos where nothing amounts to very much." (Fraser,4) More importantly though, Eva and her siblings were illegitimate children which caused society to despise and look down on them. When Eva married Juan Peron, they covered up evidence of her past. They had a marriage certificate between Eva's mother, Juana Ibarguren, and John Duarte forged to make it appear that they were married. Eva also had a birth certificate forged and claimed to be twenty-three instead of twenty-six so that she could claim the name Duarte, which would make her a legitimate child. This embarrassment that Eva felt reveals why she never publicly spoke about her childhood. .
Eva Perón had an obscure past, and because of this many myths emerged that surrounded her life. Fist of all, many people believed she was a whore. This stemmed from the period in her life when she struggled as an actress and allegedly slept around for work. Also, when he public found out Eva lived with Perón and they had not been married it "confirmed" this myth to many people. Also, on Eva's European tour she allegedly gave a fascist salute after a speech.
