AS Alan Parker's film of Evita, with Madonna in the title role, nears its release date, it is safe to say that the film is unlikely to give undue prominence to Dr Pedro Ara, embalmer extraordinaire and one of the lost minor figures of history.
A native of Zaragoza, Spain, Dr Ara will be remembered as the man who ensured that Eva Peron, former First Lady of Argentina, got around more dead than when she was alive.
Eva Ibarguren Duarte Peron was a minor actress when she married Juan Domingo Peron, then Vice president of Argentina and Minister for War, in 1945. She quickly attained demagogue status when Peron became President, founding orphanages and hospitals, successfully fighting for the suffrage of women and better wages for workers and indulging in various ostentatious manifestations of concern for the masses which duly endeared her to them.
Forty Mink Coats
She also amassed a vast personal fortune, including $10 million worth of jewellery. "Among her favourite pieces was the collar of San Martin, made of platinum and gold and containing 753 precious stones. She had 40 mink coats and countless suits from her Paris couturier, all paid for through the taxation of her undoubtedly grateful people.
Sadly for Evita, even the greatest of specialists were unable to stave off the cancer, which was eating away at her. She weighed only 65 pounds when she died on July 6th, 1952, leaving behind a grieving husband who was determined to honour her by exhibiting her remains in a grand public monument. In order to ensure that his wife would be looking her best for this public display, he enlisted the help of Dr Pedro Ara.
According to the American funeral directors, Edward and Melissa Johnson, who researched the Ara story for the American Funeral Director journal in 1986, Dr Ara was secretive about his manipulations but, eventually, Evita's body was preserved, cleansed and dressed in a white robe, and in her hands was placed a mother of pearl rosary which she had received from the Pope. She went on display to the grieving masses and everyone agreed she looked remarkably chipper, all things considered. Dr Ara was paid $50,000 for his services and assured the grieving widower that his wife would remain undecomposed "forever".
Incorruptibility
In 1955, Peron was ousted in a coup and fled the country. His successor, Colonel Pedro Aramburu, realised that Evita's body was a powerful symbol for his enemies and decided to destroy it. Dr Ara added a certain element of challenge to this effort by embellishing his claims for the eternal incorruptibility of Evita's corpse. It would not be ruined by growths or bacteria, he declared, and, perhaps getting somewhat carried away by his belief in his own genius, he announced that even acid and fire would probably have little effect on it.
His claims gave Colonel Aramburu pause for thought and a number of ideas were put forward to ensure that Evita's corpse would give the ruling powers no further trouble. These included dropping the body into a volcano, dumping it in deep ocean waters and burying it beneath a remote airstrip, but before Colonel Aramburu could put any of these plans into action Evita's body upped sticks and disappeared.
The man responsible for abducting the corpse (under Peron's orders) was believed to be Otto Skorzeny, a German military officer who had escaped to asylum in Argentina after the second World War and was rumoured to have used his connections with the Peron regime to assist leading Nazis evade their pursuers.
Evita's body was reputedly kept in a room in military intelligence headquarters by loyal Peronistas. As soon as it was practical, she was crated and shipped to Europe, eventually arriving in Italy, where she was buried under the assumed identity of Maria Maggi in a Milanese cemetery in 1957.
Meanwhile, Colonel
Aramburu was ousted from the presidency amid guerrilla warfare and a campaign for the return of Evita's body by Peronistas. Unfortunately for Colonel Aramburu, he was almost as ostentatious in his claims as Dr Ara and had boasted during his presidency that he knew the location of the corpse. Taking him at his word, guerrillas kidnapped him and tortured him to death, presumably in an attempt to force him to reveal the secret.
Back in Europe, Juan Peron watched these developments. While he was anxious that his enemies should not find out where his late wife was buried, he was equally anxious that her remains should not fall into the hands of fanatical Peronistas, perhaps fearing that they would carry her through the streets of Buenos Aires in an unseemly attempt to drum up support.
Body Exhumed
In an attempt to prevent either side obtaining the corpse, Peron had it exhumed and transported to Madrid where, not entirely coincidentally, Peron, Otto Skorenzy and Dr Pedro Ara were all living in quiet retirement. The three gathered to inspect the remains, when the casket was opened. Dr Ara, it emerged, had been as good as his word: the body was almost undamaged, apart from a bent ear and some broken fingers. He made some minor repairs and the body was dressed and placed in a new coffin.
The eventual location of this coffin might lead one, quite reasonably, to surmise that Juan Peron had lost his marbles slightly where his dead wife was concerned. By this time he was living with his third wife, and Evita was installed in a room in his Madrid home, the same room where he and the latest Mrs Peron had their evening meal.
Peron returned to power in Argentina in 1973, accompanied by his third wife, but died the following year from what is believed to have been a heart attack. His wife was appointed to succeed him, but the nation was still in love with Evita. The dead former President, Colonel Aramburu, was exhumed and held to ransom until Evita's remains were returned to Argentina. Peron's widow, clearly uncomfortable with the idea of so many dead presidents, dead former presidents and dead president's wives being used as, pawns in some bizarre political chess game, agreed to return Evita to Argentina.
She arrived back in December 1974 and was placed in a crypt beside her husband, Juan Domingo Peron. After 17 years of unrest, Evita was home.