Frommer's Review
It is almost impossible for non-Argentines to fathom that it took 50 years from the time of her death for Evita, the world's most famous Argentine, to finally get a museum. The Museo Evita opened on July 26, 2002, in a mansion where her charity, the Eva Perón Foundation, once housed single mothers with children.
While the museum treats her history fairly, looking at both the good and the bad, it is quickly obvious to the visitor that each presentation has a little bit of love for Evita behind it, and indeed, members of the family are involved in the museum. Evita's grandniece, Cristina Alvarez Rodríguez, is president of the historical group that runs the museum, and she is often in the building meeting with the staff. Gabriel Miremont, the museum's original curator, is Argentina's preeminent expert on Evita history; he had become personally interested in Evita as a child, when he was forbidden from listening to lyrics to the Evita play. It was technically illegal at the time to do so while a military dictatorship ruled the country, following the collapse of Perón's second government in 1976. Thus, while historically accurate, the museum has a close personal touch, which sets it apart from most museums.
The Museo Evita's displays divide Evita's life into several parts, looking at her childhood, her arrival in Buenos Aires to become an actress, her ascension to first lady and unofficial saint to millions, and finally her death and legacy. You will be able to view her clothes, remarkably preserved by the military government that took power after Perón's 1955 fall. Other artifacts of her life include her voting card, as it was through Evita's work that Argentine women gained the right to vote. There are also toys and schoolbooks adorned with her image, given to children to indoctrinate them into the Peronist movement. The most touching artifact of all, though, is a smashed statue of Evita, hidden for decades by a farmer in his barn, despite the threat of being jailed for saving it. Whether you hate, love, or are indifferent to Evita, this is a museum that no visitor to Argentina should miss. Digesting the exhibits here will help you truly understand why she remains such a controversial figure within the Argentine psyche.
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