1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:16,440 Speaker 1: I'm editor Kandis gets soon joined by staff writer Jane 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: McGrath Tyther. Jane Aaron O'Brien, one of our listeners, wrote 5 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:24,280 Speaker 1: to us asking for a podcast about South American history. 6 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: She says, we talk a lot about American and European history, 7 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: and she wants to know some juicy dictator stories, and 8 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 1: there are a lot. We kind of have some juicy 9 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: stuff for you today. It's not necessarily about a dictator 10 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:41,240 Speaker 1: per se, but it is about a body, a very 11 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: very famous body that got shuffled around South America and 12 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: parts of Europe before it was finally buried. That's right. 13 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:48,920 Speaker 1: And I didn't know about this story until we started 14 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: researching for the podcast, and it's really fascinating. It is 15 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: um doubtlessly you guys have heard of a prone or 16 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 1: a vida, And if you're like me, you sat were 17 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:04,399 Speaker 1: the musical Avida starring Madonna about fifty times because it's 18 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: just so great and and her her real life. There 19 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 1: weren't any um loud musical numbers from the Casa Rosatta 20 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:13,960 Speaker 1: that I know of. I know she addressed people from 21 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 1: the balcony. I don't think she threw up her hands 22 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: and sang. But she did take the very famous Rainbow tour, 23 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: and yes there was getture clothing and lots of jewels 24 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 1: and furs on it. So I'm very excited to tell 25 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: you about that. But first from background, Um, that's right. 26 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: I didn't know much about Eva Perona before doing this, 27 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:32,679 Speaker 1: but she was a really fascinating figure. She was born 28 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:35,679 Speaker 1: in rural Argentina, and she really had a struggle because 29 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,319 Speaker 1: she was the youngest of five um born out of 30 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: wedlock because her father had another family and father left 31 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 1: her mother after Eva was born, and she struggled, and 32 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:46,320 Speaker 1: by the time she was a teenager, she she had 33 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: been idolizing American movie stars and she wanted to enter 34 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: the show business. So she left for Borenos Aires and 35 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: she started a career in show business. Where or is 36 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: she met Juan Perone, who was bound for great things 37 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: in Argentina. He eyes he wanted presidency in nineteen forty 38 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:06,919 Speaker 1: six and Eva was given control of the Ministry of Labor. 39 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: And you know, it's funny, you can say what you 40 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:11,480 Speaker 1: want about ever prom because I think that she is 41 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: a very controversial figure. And to um to reference the 42 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:18,240 Speaker 1: movie one more time. When the film and the crew 43 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: were filming scenes for Avida in Argentina, they met a 44 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: lot of opposition from local people who were worried that 45 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: their idea and the image of a Vida would be desecrated, 46 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:29,239 Speaker 1: that she would be portrayed in a very negative light. 47 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: And I think that there are ways to honor the 48 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: good things she did and still juxtaposed those with the 49 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: so are sort of the seed things that were happening 50 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: under the surface. So she did want to work for 51 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: the Ministry of Labor, and perhaps this was due in 52 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: part the fact that the Duarte family had lived in 53 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: such poverty. And I think that she did have really 54 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 1: good intentions for the poor people of Argentina, and she 55 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: advocated things for like higher wages and voting rights for women, 56 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: and also government subsidized housing for the poor. And it's 57 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 1: important to know that at this time Argentina had had 58 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: a great influx of wealth because after World War Two, 59 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: a lot of the ward to our in European nations, 60 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:12,799 Speaker 1: they couldn't create their own crops, they couldn't grow their 61 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,239 Speaker 1: own wheat, things like cattle, and beef, and their livestock 62 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: was down, so they had to import a lot of 63 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,960 Speaker 1: these things from Argentina. So Argentina hiked up export prices 64 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: and taxism is able to generate a lot of money 65 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,080 Speaker 1: for its own economy. So finally under the Prone administration 66 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 1: they were in a position to dull it out and 67 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: use it properly. That's true. And speaking of World War two, 68 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: um the whole political atmosphere at that time was very 69 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: much influenced by, um the fascist dictatorships that we're going 70 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: that we're had been going on in Europe at that time. 71 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 1: UM One Parne is kind of known for suppressing freedom 72 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: of the press and freedom of speech during that time. 73 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: But it was also things that especially Ava really lagged onto, 74 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: which were these issues of labor unions and stuff that 75 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: that made her as pecularly popular with the people at 76 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: the time. And you could say like she was even 77 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: more than Princess Diana is in in England. That's a 78 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: great comparison, and they sort of share the same sort 79 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: of mythology, I guess because they both died rather young, 80 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:19,480 Speaker 1: so they did. And Avida, the nickname Avita, comes from 81 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: the group of people called Los des commisados, which stands 82 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:27,799 Speaker 1: for the shirtless ones and the shirtless ones. The Spanish 83 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: term had been used in a very derogatory manner to 84 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:32,919 Speaker 1: target people who are very poor and who lived in 85 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: the slums of Argentina. But the Paronists essentially turned the 86 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: term on its head and started using it in a 87 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:43,679 Speaker 1: very affectionate way. And we saw, or not we, because 88 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: we weren't there, but history saw at this time Argentina 89 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,359 Speaker 1: sort of changed dramatically in a way because people would, 90 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 1: you know, they would, they would move to the cities 91 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: and they would build it up, and there was economy 92 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: and there was industrial activity and things were flourishing. And 93 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: Avida was very happy because she had been the mastermind 94 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:04,479 Speaker 1: behind all of this, and she didn't let people forget 95 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:07,960 Speaker 1: there were pictures of her plastered around the city. She 96 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:10,039 Speaker 1: made sure that wherever she went there was some sort 97 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 1: of PR spokes person with her. There was always someone 98 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: taking pictures. She was very much in the public eye, 99 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: and I think she enjoyed that, Yeah, I think she did. 100 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: She was very slow in terms of her PR tactics because, 101 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: as you said, she always had photographers around her and 102 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: she was always doing like photo ops basically doing charitable 103 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: things and speaking of charities, um, there was a lot 104 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:33,480 Speaker 1: of politics going on here among the traditional elite UH 105 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:37,160 Speaker 1: and their conflicts with Eva. At the time. The official 106 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,799 Speaker 1: charity at the time was basically was called Aid Society, 107 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:44,480 Speaker 1: that's the translated translation into English. And she wanted to 108 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: take charge of this and the traditional elite did not 109 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: want her to. Some say it's because she came from 110 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: humble backgrounds and they weren't really receptive to her. We 111 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:54,679 Speaker 1: can imagine that the women in the society were very elite, 112 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,360 Speaker 1: they were society women, and they didn't want to associate 113 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:01,799 Speaker 1: with Eva. That's right, and so, not to be outdone, 114 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: started the Eva Perne Foundation and this basically, using this 115 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: she ran the other official charity under to the ground 116 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:12,800 Speaker 1: because she cut off the government funding for it and 117 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: she redirected it to her own charity. And she was 118 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: able to fund schools and hospitals, which you know, all 119 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: these things, orphanages, houses for the elderly, gave her more 120 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: photo ops and it made her like, you know, more 121 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: of a public figure that people loved. People were very 122 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,919 Speaker 1: and dear to her, and it helps when you're in 123 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: the public eye to have a certain um appearance about you, 124 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:35,359 Speaker 1: and she she had this sort of shelacked beauty, you know, 125 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: with the the perfectly quoft dyed blonde hair and they 126 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: manicured nails, and the flawless makeup and the cature and 127 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,719 Speaker 1: the furs and the jewels. She was the whole package. 128 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: And we mentioned that because of the taxes and all 129 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:51,280 Speaker 1: the revenue that Argentina was generating, they were able to 130 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:54,159 Speaker 1: uh disseminate a lot of that wells to the poor, 131 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 1: but a lot of it also went to a vida's closet. 132 00:06:57,600 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: And she even went, like I said, on the Rainbow Tour. 133 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:01,479 Speaker 1: This was a meet and greet opportunity for her to 134 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: go across Europe and she met everyone from the Pope 135 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:06,800 Speaker 1: to General Franco and she really created a splash. But 136 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: in the end it was her own enddoing, because by 137 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty one, when she was just about thirty three 138 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 1: years old, she became sick with uterine cancer and she 139 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 1: was bedridden, that's right. And it was about that same 140 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: time that she got um a nomination for Vice President, 141 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:22,640 Speaker 1: which is testament to how popular she was. She was 142 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,680 Speaker 1: someone someone who had recently been champion women's suffrage, so 143 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 1: I'm sure this is a huge um step forward for 144 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: that country. But the army actually forced her to withdraw it. 145 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: I'm not sure the details behind that, but anyway, she 146 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: was she was dying of cancer at this time when um, 147 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: when that happened, and she knew it, and the people 148 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: around her who knew she was dying knew how special 149 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: she would be even after death. And so one of 150 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: the finest pathologists at the time, Dr Patriara, he was 151 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 1: summoned and he was going to have a very extensive 152 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: embalming process of his body, and so he began to 153 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 1: prepare all of his materials and as symbol, all the 154 00:07:57,560 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: supplies that he would need. And her hair was dye 155 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 1: when last time, and her manicurist did her nails one 156 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,160 Speaker 1: last time, and then her body lay in state. She 157 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: officially died on July nine pm, and her body land 158 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 1: state at the Ministry of Labor, and people lined up 159 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: for days and days and days, thirteen days to be 160 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: exact to come and pay homage to Avida, until finally 161 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: Dr ir got a little bit worried that they were 162 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 1: going to soiler I reprobably damaged her body. So she 163 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 1: was taken away and preparations were begun for the embombing process. 164 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: That's right, And although he had done some work before 165 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: she was laid out and displayed, he continued the work 166 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:38,880 Speaker 1: after the display for several more months, and um he 167 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 1: was known. He was a famous embalmer at the time, 168 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: which is interesting to me. I don't know how famous 169 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: you can be as embalmer, but um he as far 170 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:48,680 Speaker 1: as I could tell, he never really divulged his complete 171 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:50,840 Speaker 1: details of the process of his embolming, but I did 172 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 1: hear that he um he replaced her fluids with wax, 173 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:57,240 Speaker 1: And it's interesting. I don't know. Working here, I've learned 174 00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 1: a lot more about the embalming process than I ever 175 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: wanted to know, which is row But um, but I've 176 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: never heard of that before. And I guess it worked 177 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: because to this day people say that her body is 178 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: still intact. Isn't that wild? And it took about a 179 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 1: year for him to complete the process. And we're not 180 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 1: sure exactly about the cost of it, but estimates are 181 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 1: around a hundred thousand dollars, not a lot. I mean, 182 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:21,560 Speaker 1: you think about the average cost of a funeral today, 183 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: and that's just for the embalming process. We're not talking 184 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: about her casket or the monument that was built for her. 185 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 1: And this is where the story takes a really really 186 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: juicy turn. That's right, we're not over just we've just begun, y'all. Um. 187 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:38,439 Speaker 1: The Prone government was on the verge of collapse because 188 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 1: the food supplies it started to dwindle, and because there 189 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:46,199 Speaker 1: weren't a lot of grain crops left, it was affecting 190 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:48,840 Speaker 1: the cattle crops, and so they didn't really have anything 191 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:51,719 Speaker 1: to trade. They couldn't get colon oil, so everything was 192 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: just all going to hack. And um, we had mentioned 193 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:56,440 Speaker 1: earlier that a lot of people had moved into the 194 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 1: cities and things were industrious and they were booming. Well, 195 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:02,080 Speaker 1: now those areas returned n into Slam's unemployment was up 196 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:05,319 Speaker 1: and it was just a mass. And then add that 197 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: to the fact that Eva had just died and and 198 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:09,760 Speaker 1: so one was not quite as popular as the headman 199 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: and no, so the whole environment in Argentina was right 200 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:16,319 Speaker 1: for a coup and that happened in ve Prone was 201 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 1: overthrown and he was exiled to Spain. But the cool 202 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: leaders knew that if the Pronusts had Eva's body, they 203 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,560 Speaker 1: could use that as a bargaining chip and show it off, 204 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: you know, to her loyal supporters to yeah. Yeah, it's 205 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:34,960 Speaker 1: sort of a real snow white situation. They had this 206 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: beautiful woman and in a glass coughin, and you know, 207 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:39,600 Speaker 1: you show it to someone you have a strong emotional 208 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 1: attachment to them, you're not going to forget that you 209 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:45,000 Speaker 1: are still loyal to her husband. So they decided they 210 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 1: were going to hide the body, that's right. And so 211 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:52,520 Speaker 1: they actually made even decoy bodies of even some of 212 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:55,240 Speaker 1: my believe were complete replicas of her body made of 213 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:58,520 Speaker 1: wax to throw people off. And they they sent decoy 214 00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: bodies to two different races, but they sent the real 215 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 1: body uh to an undisclosed burial location in Italy, and 216 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:08,960 Speaker 1: they used a fake name on the grave site. So 217 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: and and even before this, even before she got to Italy, 218 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: there were some riom Moral and Argentina where the cool 219 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:16,559 Speaker 1: leaders tried to bury her in an unmarked grave plot 220 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:19,079 Speaker 1: and the guys were responsible for that. He got kind 221 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: of creeped out because some somewhat superstitious stuff started happening, 222 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 1: and so he stashed the body in an attic and 223 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: then I was discovered, and then she eventually got shipped 224 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: off to Italy, and so she was in Italy for 225 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:33,920 Speaker 1: a long time, and uh, one Perona at that time 226 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:37,120 Speaker 1: was living in exile in Madrid. He finally they finally 227 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 1: allowed them to turn over the body to one Peron 228 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:42,240 Speaker 1: in Spain at the time, and so he kept it 229 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 1: there for a little while. And when there was another 230 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:49,440 Speaker 1: military overthrow transition, they actually brought one Perone back to 231 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 1: the presidency again in Argentina. And um, by this time 232 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 1: they actually left his body there first. And um, so 233 00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 1: once Peronne is back in the presidency, but he soon dies. 234 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 1: He actually doesn't last very long. Listen to year, I believe, 235 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 1: and um meantime he's married again, his wife Isabella or 236 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:10,600 Speaker 1: Isabella and um, i've actually seen both ways. His wife 237 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: at the time takes over, which is um. It's kind 238 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: of controversial. She's non incredibly popular, and so in sort 239 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:20,800 Speaker 1: of a last ditch effort to win back the people's 240 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: praise and in their favorite she actually has a body 241 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:27,560 Speaker 1: shipped back to Argentina where it belongs and put it 242 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:31,440 Speaker 1: next to her husband Wan Perune's body in the presidential palace. 243 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: That's the way to get some clouds. And if you 244 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 1: guys have been keeping track of the timeline. Here we 245 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:38,760 Speaker 1: know that Perune came back to Argentina and seventy one. 246 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: I think he died around seventy four or so. So 247 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: Ava's body has been unburied for twenty four years at 248 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: this point in time. It's a good point. So she's 249 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:51,200 Speaker 1: in state and then finally it is time to bury her. 250 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: And we want to do this right, you know. So 251 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:57,640 Speaker 1: they commission a company that manufactures bank vaults too and 252 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:01,679 Speaker 1: to create this incredibly intricate and incredibly like bomb proof, 253 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:05,240 Speaker 1: fireproof whatever proof coffin for Eva. And she's taken to 254 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:08,800 Speaker 1: the dou Arte family tomb and Buenos Aires and she's 255 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: buried there at about twenty ft underground, and her sister 256 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,280 Speaker 1: was given the only key to the tomb and um 257 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,439 Speaker 1: supposedly it was sort of deck to the nines with 258 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:22,440 Speaker 1: security and it's completely burglary proof. It's set around as 259 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 1: far as we know, it's still undisturbed. However, one prim 260 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:28,920 Speaker 1: was not so lucky. Even though his was made with 261 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 1: bulletproof glass, thieves got in and they were able to 262 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:35,240 Speaker 1: cut off his hands. This disgusting, yeah, and it was 263 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:37,840 Speaker 1: a real scandal trying to track down who had what 264 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:40,200 Speaker 1: information about that crime and a lot of people die. 265 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: It's a special slay. So I'm not sure that that 266 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,199 Speaker 1: is a solved case. Yet that's true, and people are 267 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:49,360 Speaker 1: still pretty preoccupied. Um, very attracted to the to the 268 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 1: allure of Eva's body to this day. In the ninety nineties, Uh, 269 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 1: this author named Thomas l. Roy Martinez actually wrote a 270 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: book named Santa Evita, and uh, he he was able 271 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 1: to get a lot of research from military informants who 272 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 1: had contact with one perone when he was living in Spain, etcetera. 273 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:08,760 Speaker 1: And so he actually wrote a novel, not not a 274 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:10,720 Speaker 1: history book, but a novel about it because he said 275 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: that the information that he found was so incredible that 276 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 1: it needed to be told. The truth needed to be 277 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: told in novel form. So when if you go look 278 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 1: up this book, take everything with a grain of salt. 279 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 1: But he does describe um very detailed accounts of of 280 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 1: one keeping the corpse when he was living in Madrid, 281 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,680 Speaker 1: at least keeping the corpse in an open casket in 282 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: his dining room. And Isabelle, his his new wife, had 283 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:38,400 Speaker 1: been combing his her hair daily. Yeah, very odd, pretty wild, 284 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: but but it just goes to show that people want 285 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:42,880 Speaker 1: to buy this novel, people want to read more about 286 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:46,640 Speaker 1: this This dead Body kind of two extily because I'm 287 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: obsessed with with Eva and her dead body. But that's 288 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: the great thing about history, is so much of it. 289 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:53,520 Speaker 1: And we've made this comment before, Jane. A lot of 290 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:55,680 Speaker 1: the topics we talked about, they sound like they're made 291 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: for the movies, or they're they're made for fiction. And 292 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 1: you know, if it's true that there is nothing new 293 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,560 Speaker 1: under the sun, then I'm sure we'll hear another story 294 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:05,920 Speaker 1: like this again another day. But for now, Ms Aaron 295 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,000 Speaker 1: or Brian, that is your juicy South American scoop, And 296 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 1: I hope it was juicy enough for you. It certainly 297 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:13,680 Speaker 1: was for me and for Jane as well, and in 298 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:17,400 Speaker 1: the intro. For more South American history and dictators stories, 299 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: be sure to check out how stuff works dot com 300 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: for more on this and thousands of other topics. Is 301 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:27,120 Speaker 1: it how stuff works dot com? Let us know what 302 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:30,320 Speaker 1: you think. Send an email to podcast at how stuff 303 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 1: works dot com.