I started a stamp collection when I was nine years old. At that time, it was clear that most
countries had men on their postage stamps.
The French, however, had Marianne, the national symbol, dressed in classic garb. Great Britain had the Queen. The United States had a few historic women on stamps, dressed in unflattering historic costume.
Only one country had a contemporary woman on its postage
stamps: a woman wearing modern clothing
with her hair pulled back in a bun. She
looked like a nice lady.
The stamps were from Argentina. The nice lady was Eva Peron. She was known as Evita and she died the year I started collecting stamps.
I got to visit Argentina exactly sixty years after Eva Peron’s
death. Except for a Broadway musical and
a Madonna film, I expected to find very few traces of her. Instead, I found that although Evita is dead,
she has never left Argentina.
Evita appears on Argentine currency, the 100 peso
note. Her profile appears many stories
tall on the top of a building. The word
“Peronista” appears on political campaign posters. When you walk into the giant Plaza de la Republica, your eyes automatically seek out the balcony where Evita stood
to give her speeches. Or, in my case,
the balcony where Madonna stood to sing Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina.
We went. It was more
like a city of the dead than a cemetery.
4,700 grand mausoleums lining narrow lanes, with street signs at the
intersections. Grieving statuary. Monuments.
Evita is buried there now.
Sixty years after her death people are still putting fresh flowers on her
tomb.
This woman, who I first saw on some postage stamps, had an enormous impact on her country.
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NOTE: Doug's best stories have been collected into a book: Puppy Out Of Breath. Price = $11. You can purchase a copy at http://www.puppyoutofbreath.com
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