Editing Eva Perón (section)

===Eva Foundation===
[[File:Evita (fundación).JPG|thumb|left|Perón meets with the public in her foundation's office.]]

The ''[[Sociedad de Beneficencia de Buenos Aires]]'' (Society of Beneficence), a [[charitable organization]] made up of 87 society ladies, was responsible for most works of charity in Buenos Aires prior to the election of Juan Perón. At one point, the ''Sociedad'' had cared heavily for [[orphans]] and homeless women, but had slowed these activities by the time of the first term of Juan Perón. In the 1800s, the ''Sociedad'' had been supported by private contributions, largely those of the husbands of the society ladies, but by the 1940s, the ''Sociedad'' was supported by the government.<ref name="Fraser"/>{{page needed|date=October 2015}}

It had been the tradition of the ''Sociedad'' to elect the [[First Lady of Argentina]] as president of the charity. However, the ladies of the ''Sociedad'' did not approve of Eva Perón's impoverished background, lack of formal education, and former career as an actress. Afraid that Perón would set a bad example for the orphans, the society ladies did not extend to Perón the position of president of their organization. It has often been said that Eva Perón had the government funding for the ''Sociedad'' cut off in retaliation. This version of events has been called into question, however, the government funding that had previously supported the ''Sociedad'' then went to support Eva Perón's own foundation. The [[Eva Perón Foundation]] began with 10,000 pesos provided by Perón herself.<ref name="Fraser 117">{{harvp|Fraser|Navarro|1996|p=117}}.</ref>

In ''[[The Woman with the Whip]]'', the first English-language biography of Eva Perón, author Mary Main writes that no account records were kept for the foundation, because it was merely a means of funneling government money into private [[Swiss bank accounts]] controlled by the Peróns.<ref>{{harvp|Main|1980}}.</ref>{{page needed|date=October 2015}} Fraser and Navarro counter these claims, writing that Ramón Cereijo, the Minister of Finance, did keep records, and that the foundation "began as the simplest response to the poverty [Perón] encountered each day in her office" and to "the appalling backwardness of social services—or charity, as it was still called—in Argentina".<ref name="Fraser 114">{{harvp|Fraser| Navarro|1996|p=114}}.</ref> Crassweller writes that the foundation was supported by donations of cash and goods from the Peronist unions and private businesses, and that the [[General Confederation of Labour (Argentina)|General Confederation of Labour]] donated three man-days (later reduced to two) of salary for every worker per year. Tax on lottery and movie tickets also helped to support the foundation, as did a levy on casinos and revenue from horse races. Crassweller also notes that there were some cases of businesses being pressured to donate to the foundation, with negative repercussions resulting if requests for donations were not met.<ref>{{harvp|Crassweller|1987|pp=209–210}}.</ref>

Within a few years, the foundation's assets in cash and goods exceeded three billion [[peso]]s, or over $200 million at the exchange rate of the late 1940s. It employed 14,000 workers, of whom 6,000 were construction workers and 26 were priests. It purchased and distributed annually 400,000 pairs of shoes, 500,000 sewing machines, and 200,000 cooking pots. The foundation also gave scholarships, built homes, hospitals, and other charitable institutions. Every aspect of the foundation was under Eva Perón's supervision. The foundation also built entire communities, such as [[Ciudad Evita|Evita City]], which still exists today. Due to the works and health services of the foundation, Argentine health care became significantly more equal.<ref name="Fraser 119">{{harvp|Fraser|Navarro|1996|p=119}}.</ref>
[[File:Argentina - Eva Perón en Campeonato de fútbol infantil.jpg|thumb|right|Perón kicks off the Youth Football Championship, 1948]]
Toward the end of her life, Evita was working as many as 20 to 22 hours per day in her foundation, often ignoring Juan Perón's request that she cut back on her workload and take the weekends off. As she worked with the poor in her foundation, she developed a more outraged attitude toward the existence of poverty, saying, "Sometimes I have wished my insults were slaps or lashes. I've wanted to hit people in the face to make them see, if only for a day, what I see each day I help the people."<ref name="Fraser 126">{{harvp|Fraser|Navarro|1996|p=126}}.</ref> Crassweller writes that Perón became fanatical about her work in the foundation, and felt as though she were on a crusade against the very concept and existence of poverty and social ills. "It is not surprising", writes Crassweller, "that as her public crusades and her private adorations took on a narrowing intensity after 1946, they simultaneously veered toward the [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendental]]." Crassweller compares Perón to [[Ignatius Loyola]], saying she came to be akin to a one-woman [[Jesuit Order]].<ref name="Crassweller 214-7">{{harvp|Crassweller|1987|pp=214–217}}.</ref>