The History Buff, 205 Worth Avenue - Suite 316, Palm Beach, Florida, 33480 

Evita!
Evita Duarte Perón
Incredibly Rare 1939 Signed Photograph as
Evita Duarte
With an Accompanying Signed Photograph of Juan Perón
 
SOLD
 
María Eva Duarte de Perón 'Evita' (1919-1952). Actress and Legendary 'First Lady' of Argentina, wife of Juan Perón. Extraordinarily Rare Photograph Signed, being a 3.5 in. by 5.5 in. publicity portrait of a young Evita as an aspiring actress, dated 1939. Boldly signed and inscribed in blue fountain pen. Reads (in Spanish): "Para Indres G. Porce con todo la simpatio de Evita Duarte 1939".
 
Juan Perón (1895-1974). Argentine General, Dictator, and President (1946-1955). Black and White Photograph Signed, dated in his hand Buenos Aires, 31 October 1973. Somewhat toned, with minor surface wear, stains, and crease on lower left corner, otherwise a nice accompanying piece with the Evita.
 
Evita, as she was affectionately called, was one of the most influential figures in Argentina history. The actress turned First Lady, became the center of a vast personality cult and her image and name soon appeared everywhere during her rise to power in the mid-1940s. A product of the lower class herself, she was worshipped by her working-class followers. Assuming the role of her husband's liaison with labor, Evita became a co-leader of the descamisados ("the shirtless"). Using her weekly radio show she delivered powerful speeches with heavy populist rhetoric urging the poor to rise up. After Perón was elected Evita immediately took a prominent political role in the government. She created the Eva Perón Foundation, an institution to assist the poor, and organized the women's branch of the Justicialist Party. At the same she was bitterly hated by Argentina's wealthy Anglophile elite. They detested her humble roots and alleged history of sexual promiscuity, and many felt that as a woman she was far too active in politics. Her legend and cult status increased with her untimely death of uterine cancer at the age of 33.
Incredibly rare! This is the first Evita signed photograph we have ever handled. $OLD.