The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

The death of Eva Perón: how she lived her illness and her last days

2021-07-26T13:21:19.854Z


Evita passed away on July 26, 1952, at the age of 33. How was his fight until the end, according to the testimony of his personal doctor, Dr. Jorge Albertelli An endless wait in the rain: this was the massive public wake of Evita A corpse kidnapped, outraged and exiled


07/26/2021 9:33 AM

  • Clarín.com

  • Society

Updated 07/26/2021 9:33 AM

In 1950,

Eva Perón

was mistakenly operated for appendicitis.

Something was wrong.

But the doctors could not determine what was happening to the first lady, who was experiencing decay and weight loss.


Studies (late) carried out the following year yielded an alarming diagnosis.

Evita suffered

from cervical cancer.

 His state of health was a

true state secret

 and required a professional to match.

From left to right, Dr. Raúl Mendé, Dr. Armando Mendez San Martín, Dr. Roberto Goyenechea, President Juan Domingo Perón, Ms. Eva Perón, Dr. Ricardo Finocchieto, Dr. Jorge Albertelli and Dr. Raúl Apold.

Source: One Hundred Days of Eva Perón, p.

89.

In this context, on September 21, 1951, gynecologist

Jorge Albertelli

 was summoned to the most difficult job of his life: curing the president's wife. After seeing the biopsy report, he agreed and moved

 to the

presidential residence

for

three months

Almost forty years later, in 1994, he published

Los "one hundred days" by Eva Perón.

There he revealed

unknown details of the disease

, but also of

his relationship

with a woman as vulnerable as unbeatable.

"

What did his eyes tell me?

(...) A sweet and infinite sadness," he wrote about the first consultation.

According to the historian

Félix Luna

-in charge of the prologue-, the chronicle contains the "unmistakable flavor of the truth."

The cover of the book "The hundred days of Eva Perón", where her gynecologist tells how she lived the end of her life.

Albertelli was the one who explained to Perón that Eva suffered from "a cancer whose starting point is in the

cervix

."

"When the diagnosis is made early, there is a percentage of cures. This is not the case. (...) The presence of malignant cells in the lumen of the veins suggests that metastasis will occur in the not too distant future. (.. .) It is known that the virulence of the tumor is greater the younger the age, "he explained.

Despite the difficult situation, the gynecologist believed that

the obligation was to fight.

For this reason, he suggested the application of

radium

-

to stop the growth of the tumor -,

surgical intervention

and

X-ray

therapy

.

Eva Perón, ill, during one of her last public appearances.

(Clarín Archive)

The first president was dejected.

He asked her to do everything in her power and emphasized the importance of Evita "as a

partner

, as a

friend

, as a

counselor

and as a loyal foothold in the fight."

On September 27, 1951, the radioactive device (

radium

)

was placed

.

The following day, news surprised the Government: General Benjamin Menéndez tried to promote - without success - a

coup d'état.

Although she had to keep absolute rest, Evita decided to respond with a

speech on National Radio.

"I was amazed at the physical and psychic energy that this woman displayed on such a traumatic day, revealing an intense conviction in her ideals," reflected Albertelli.

According to him, Evita

was not a docile patient

and was always worried about the political situation, which even caused insomnia.

Despite his

anemia

,

anorexia,

 and

pain

, he did not completely give up the activity.

On October 15, 1951, while in bed, he published his famous autobiographical book

The reason for my life

.

Two days later, he participated in the event for

Loyalty Day

.

Her husband held her by the waist

, while he gave his most emotional speech.

"I have a sacred debt with you. And I don't care if to pay it off I have to leave shreds of my life on the road. (...)

If this people asks me for my life, I would give it to them singing," he

said.

October 17, 1951. Perón holds Evita - seriously ill - during her Loyalty Day speech.

Albertelli observed a

"palatial atmosphere"

around the first lady's health, full of intrigue, ambition and slander. Due to pressure from one of his ministers, General Perón decided to summon the North American oncologist George Pack for surgery. The matter was handled with total secrecy. No one had to find out, not even Eva herself, who thought that

Ricardo Finochietto

would operate on her

.

The surgery was performed at the Hospital Policlínico de Avellaneda, on November 6.

Albertelli was not satisfied.

First, he claimed that Pack was a general surgeon (not a gynecologist), with no new ideas for the case. He also criticized the procedure, as well as the instruments. "In short, a low-key operation, less than good," he wrote. Although he accepted - seeing the later results of the studies - that

at that point nothing could be done.

Five days after the intervention, the

general elections

arrived

, the first since women's suffrage was sanctioned.

Again ignoring the recommendations, Eva asked for a

ballot box

to vote - and she did so - from her hospital bed.

He also began to dictate

his last book

(posthumous), entitled

My message.


Eva Perón votes from the bed where she rested during her illness (Clarín Archive).

A few days later, news came that Albertelli would call the

"death sentence"

: a

metastasis

was found

at the level of the ovarian hilum, which had probably been produced by the venous route.

Evita was never notified

and continued her ray treatment.

On December 31, 1951, after almost a hundred days with her, the gynecologist left the presidential residence.

Although he defined himself

"apolitical"

and criticized many things about Peronism, he took affection and admiration for his patient. 

The last lines of the book summarize his thoughts: "When I said goodbye, I predicted a speedy total recovery and success in political management. (...) At that moment I felt a strange sadness. (...) As I walked, I thought I was leaving my back was to a young woman, whose future looked

very dark and tragic

".

August 9, 1952. The funeral procession goes to Congress.

On May 1, 1952, the first lady spoke for the last time from the balcony of the Casa Rosada.

He died a

few months later, 

on July 26, 1952.

Look also

The day Perón was reunited with Evita's body

68 years after Evita's death: the book where Perón tells the moment he fell in love with her

Source: clarin

All life articles on 2021-07-26

You may like

Life/Entertain 2024-04-16T08:32:49.098Z
Life/Entertain 2024-02-05T10:50:52.162Z
Life/Entertain 2024-01-29T17:10:38.013Z
Life/Entertain 2024-01-29T17:00:12.253Z
News/Politics 2024-01-28T00:47:58.995Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.