(Evita) Duarte de (1919-1952) Argentinian populist leader, born in Buenos Aires. A successful film actress, she married Juan Perón in 1945. When he became president the following year, she became his chief adviser and the unofficial minister of health and labor, devoting herself to helping the poor, improving education, and achieving women's suffrage. She was politically astute and sought the vice presidency in 1951 but was opposed by the army and withdrew. After her death from cancer in 1952, Juan's political strength began to decline.

(María Estela) (born Martínez) (1931-) President of Argentina 1974–76, and third wife of Juan Perón. She succeeded him after he died in office, but labor unrest, inflation, and political violence pushed the country to the brink of chaos. Accused of corruption, she was held under house arrest for five years. She went into exile in Spain.

(1895-1974) President of Argentina 1946–55 and 1973–74. A professional army officer, Perón took part in the right-wing military coup that toppled Argentina's government in 1943.
As secretary of labor and social welfare in the new government, he developed a pro-labor program that won him the loyalty of the descamisados “shirtless ones.” With their support, and the aid of his actress wife, Eva Perón, he was elected president in 1946. With Argentinian beef and wheat in high demand in the years following World War II, Perón was able to improve the country’s economy substantially, but his increasingly dictatorial methods caused him to lose the support of the Roman Catholic Church. The death of his popular wife 1952 diminished his support among the workers, and in 1955 he was ousted by the military. Perón returned to Argentina 1973 and was elected president again; his third wife, Isabel Martínez de Perón, became vice president. Upon his death in 1974, she assumed the presidency but was soon ousted by the military.