Evita: Saint or Sinner? The story of Eva Peron is a fascinating one . Evita, as she is known, enjoyed a rise to power like no other. The details of this ascension are often disputed, making Santa Evita's tale all the more intriguing. . . Maria Eva Duarte was born on May 7, 1919,1 the fifth and youngest illegitimate child of Juan Duarte and his mistress, Juan Ibarguen. The week of her birth was known as Tragic Week, when the army massacred striking workers, perhaps a foreshadow of what was to come in her life.2 Eva spent her childhood in an adobe farmhouse, with farm animals and earthen floors. In the farming trade, Juan Duarte incurred many de