Evita : In My Own Words

by Eva Perón, Laura Dail (Translator)

A new edition of the controversial "deathbed manuscript" attributed to Eva Perón. In 1987, a document that appeared to be the long-lost deathbed manuscript of Eva Perón was found in a government archive in Buenos Aires. Rumor had it that the manuscript, which is critical of the Argentine church and military, had been suppressed for thirty years after Evita's death by her husband, Argentine President Juan Perón. First published in the United States by The New Press in 1996, the book remains a fascinating historical document and memoir at a time when Argentina is back in the headlines and trials of leading officials from the Perón era are underway. Leading Perón scholars disagree about whether Evita wrote every word herself, and In My Own Words includes an extensive introduction by Perón scholar Joseph A. Page, who weighs all the claims and counterclaims about the document's authenticity and provides an essential historical framework for Eva Perón's life. Evita offers a firsthand glimpse of the woman who left an indelible if controversial mark on Argentina, and, at the time of her death at age thirty-three, was considered one of the most powerful women in the world. Originally published as In My Own Words.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Memoir, Biography Memoir, Autobiography

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

María Eva Duarte de Perón, también conocida como Eva Perón o Evita, fue una política argentina. Se casó con Juan Domingo Perón en 1945 y tras la asunción de este como Presidente de la Nación Argentina el año siguiente, Duarte se convirtió en primera dama.

Reviews

[Tommie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into Evita: In My Own Words with no knowledge of Eva Perón other than that there was a rock opera about her, and that the Simpsons parodied it. I didn't know who she was in history, or as a person. I didn't know of the controversy that rocked her world.

In general, I tend to loathe introductions written by someone else. This book, however, is largely introduction, and here is why I recommend you don't skip it: While Eva's portion of the book is tiny, it's powerful, and the controversy that surrounds her dying manuscript comes to live in Page's telling of the life of Eva. I had the same interest as when you go down a Wikipedia rabbit hole, and when I finally got to Eva's telling, short as it was, it meant so much more for the words Page introduced with.

For being a book about Eva's "own words," the content is far less hers and far more about her and her legacy. I thought I was getting a memoir; what I got was a loving biography about a woman who inspired a nation. It isn't the autobiography I sought, but it was a biography I appreciated.

I would recommend this book.

[Ruth York · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first part of my edition of this book was written by Joseph A. Page. It was an introduction to the history of Evita. This was followed my her "message", a collection of what amounts to essays by Eva Peron. The introduction was ok, nothing spectacular. Her part, while more interesting, was nothing that I would be super excited about. So, overall, while mildly interesting, it just didn't hold my interest that much. And I am glad it was so short.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is best for people who have some familiarity with Evita's life.

[Aberdeen Morrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Epic read to finish the day of Zohran’s win! No matter the uncertainty around who actually wrote these words, she was a politician who was genuinely for the people. Has me thinking more critically about power and privilege, especially her writing on ambition.

[Bella · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

[Tyler Bowders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much of this (alleged but highly credible) deathbed manuscript is a hagiography of her husband, Juan Peron, most likely dictated under the influence of HEAVY painkillers. The introduction does a fantastic job at summarizing the life of Eva Peron and arguing how this book is to be believed as a product of Evita, with the exception of the “My Supreme Will” chapter.

A fanaticism built around Juan Peron provides the foundation of Evita’s manifesto covering everything from her undying love for the working class, disdain for the oligarchy, and growing distrust of the military and Catholic Church. Her spirited denunciation of imperialisms (both capitalist and communist) and the oligarchs responsible is shockingly relevant to this day. There doesn’t appear to be a grounding ideology other than devotion to Peron. Thus, while simultaneously decrying capitalist and communist imperialism she careens from Marxist sentiments regarding the rights of workers over landowners to fascistic sympathies in placing the Argentine people into three categories: the fanatics, the enemy, and the indifferent. She reserves a particularly alarming venom for the indifferent: “The latter belongs to the class of men that Dante portrayed in the Gates of Hell. They never risk anything. They are like ‘the angels who were neither faithful nor rebellious’.”

This is, above all else, an essential piece of the myth of Evita and anyone with an interest should check it out. It’s short and can easily be consumed in a single sitting. Unfortunately, this is the closet you’re going to get to Eva Peron’s “actual” biography; everything else having been manipulated by Peronists, anti-Peronists, or Andrew Lloyd Webber.

[Kenny Cronin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so interested in all the mystery that surrounds Eva Peron. After watching a mini series on Hulu about her, I found out about this memoir. I was shocked because I am such an enthusiast about her history and even went to her mausoleum in BA.

The forward in this book is really some thing. I learned a lot more just reading that forward than I did when reading other articles about her or another book that I read about her life that was all in Spanish. I liked how it talked about debunking a lot of myths about Evita. There was a lot that I didn’t know/never thought about the other side. The memoir itself is known to not be written by her completely, and the forward does a good job of explaining why we know that all of this was not Eva’s words. However, with that being said, they explain that a lot of the sentiment might ring true to what she actually would have written in her last moments. And for this reason, that’s why this memoir is not well known because it’s more of a forgery with true inspiration from Eva. My biggest take away is that she was always anti-oligarchy of the people of Argentina, and it makes sense why a woman during those times with her background and class was such a threat to those in power. It still made me wonder about Peróns ties to Mussolini, and the forward of this book tries to claim that that was all a part of the anti-propaganda against Ava, including all of the misogynistic things are used to say about her as well. It’s a super quick read if this topic interests you.

[AJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evita's "message" indulges those who have a romantic view of her and want to get under the surface of the woman and her ideology, not the role she is portrayed as in the famous biographical rock opera.

Joseph A Page's lengthy introduction provides a solid summary of Eva's life. I think he provides a balanced reasoning for how much we can attribute of Evita's "message" to herself and those close to her trying to portray her beliefs and to perhaps embellish to weaponize it into propaganda. The protection of this collection of short essays and thoughts further adds to the mystery and protection of Eva's almost Saint like identity amongst the Peronist community.

Eva's life will continue to be shrouded in mystery and this book, albeit short and irrespective of who is the true author(s)/editor(s), provides an interesting insight into 1950s Argentinian sentiment and an aspirational political dream.

[Marco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Durante mi viaje a Buenos Aires agarré gran interés por el personaje de Evita Perón. Sin saber mucho sobre ella, compré este libro para saber quién fue y su papel -o relevancia- en la historia argentina. El prólogo e introducción del libro tiene gran valor justo en este aspecto. Detalla con gran objetividad -al menos para un foráneo- la vida de Evita, mientras busca clarificar la veracidad y autenticidad en cuanto a atribuirle estos últimos mensajes a la propia Evita. Esta introducción hace que el libro valga mucho la pena. Los mensajes de la misma Evita no son tan interesantes en sí mismos (también difícil exigir una gran obra a quién dicta desde su lecho de muerte con un fuerte cáncer), pero sí en conjunto con el prólogo que detalla algunos despistes o intenciones de fondo a lo que decía Evita frente al contexto que vivía. Una obra interesante para conocer a Evita, parece que incluso más que _La razón de mi vida_.

[Nadege Jackiw · Rating 3 out of 5]

super interesting when considering the political context but otherwise not particularly interesting.

[Cizka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the English in my own words Evita by Joseph A Page

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I mentioned in my review of "Evita: Saint or Sinner?" Evita seems to have developed a character and acted it out. Then over time she seems to have believed she really was the character. When she was hit with uterine cancer (& refused treatment) that set her up for dying at the age of 33 (the same age as Christ!). She wrote these missives on her death bed. There is some truth in them and that is probably because she was facing death and seeing things more clearly? But mostly it is just ramblings although they are impassioned. She SO wanted to believe that she was a person of the poor for the poor yet she leaves behind a Swiss bank account with 25 million dollars in it and a wardrobe consisting of 400 dresses and 600 hats. Yikes! I am still left confused about this icon!

[Lana · Rating 2 out of 5]

In cleaning through my apartment I have found an old treasure-trove of book related papers, including my “books read” list from 1999-2000. In addition to listing the books, I wrote about 2-3 sentences to myself – sometimes they were plot reminders, sometimes commentary on the books. They were not intended to be read by anyone other than myself. I don’t imagine these will be very helpful to anyone else, but I’m posting them here for two reasons: first, to keep my reviews/comments in one place now and, second, because they’re kind of a fascinating look at my younger brain.

Interesting reading. Can clearly infer why she was both loved and hated. Can see why she is defined as both a Marxist & fascist.

[Abeer Hoque · Rating 2 out of 5]

The introduction to this book was an interesting overview of the Peron phenomenon in Argentina and worldwide. It was way overlong though and felt like he had just transcribed his rough notes into the book.

The book itself (debatedly her last message to the world/Argentines) is like a journal in a way, rambling and emotional. You get an excellent sense of her within a few pages (but then it's a bit repetitive). I'm glad for the introduction because you see her in context, and understand how others people (Peronists and anti-Peronists) saw her and Peron. Otherwise, the actual text of the book is only her perspective which is pretty unilateral.

[aubrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

after recently seeing the musical evita {i've seen it before and have also seen the madonna movie}, i wanted to read a bit more about eva peron and do some fact checking. the first half of this book is an introduction by the author and a peron scholar, which gave some insight into eva's life and heavily contradicted almost the entire "rock opera" that i saw on the stage. the second half is her own message {"mi mensaje"} supposedly written in her final days. it is a message to her husband, her friends, her enemies, and most importantly, her descamisados. fascinating story and a lengthy, but fascinating final message.

[Brad Snyder · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not appreciate the layout of this "manuscript" or the dubious notion that is should be attributed to Eva Peron. I felt the manner in which the book was presented was very misleading. Often times, I felt the contributing author (which accounted for most of the book), casted his opinion on evidentiary findings regarding Eva Duarte. Alas, I will continue my search for direct scholarly sources on the mysteries attributed to Evita. However, if a reader wishes to get a better understanding of Eva or Peronism, this book will aid in that area of research.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The intro was ok, but need to find out more from some other source. I liked what she supposedly wrote and want to check out more.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good book. so much learned about Evita.

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

These writings really show Evita's powerful sentiment, and her evident influence on husband Juan Peron.