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Yesterday
10m 34s

The mystery of Evita’s corpse

Bbc World Service
About this episode

When Eva Peron, Argentina's most famous First Lady, died in 1952, her body was embalmed.

Three years later, her widower, Juan Peron, was deposed in a coup. But military officers feared her corpse would become a rallying point of protest against the new government. So they stole it.

Over the next few decades, Evita’s body was stored in several different places in several different countries, inspiring wild stories about its supernatural powers.

In 2013, Linda Pressly spoke to Domingo Tellechea, the art restorer charged with repairing the embalmed body.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

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(Photo: Evita's body returned from Italy. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)

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