Although Perón had undergone a hysterectomy performed by the American surgeon George T. Pack,[47] the cancer had metastasized and returned rapidly.[45][page needed] She was the first Argentine to undergo chemotherapy (a novel treatment at that time). Despite all available treatment, she became emaciated, weighing only 36 kg (79 lb) by June 1952.[citation needed] Evita died at the age of 33, at 20:25 on Saturday, 26 July 1952. Radio broadcasts throughout the country were interrupted with the announcement that "The Press Secretary's Office of the Presidency of the Nation fulfills its very sad duty to inform the people of the Republic that at 20:25 hours Mrs. Eva Perón, Spiritual Leader of the Nation, died."[48][page needed] Ordinary activities ceased; movies stopped playing; restaurants were closed and patrons were shown to the door.
It had been the tradition of the Sociedad to elect the First Lady of Argentina as president of the charity. But the ladies of the Sociedad did not approve of Eva Perón's impoverished background, lack of formal education, and former career as an actress. Fraser and Navarro write that the ladies of the Sociedad were afraid that Evita would set a bad example for the orphans, therefore the society ladies did not extend to Evita the position of president of their organization. It has often been said that Evita had the government funding for the Sociedad cut off in retaliation. Fraser and Navarro suggest that this version of events is in dispute, but that the government funding that had previously supported the Sociedad now went to support Evita's own foundation. The Fundación María Eva Duarte de Perón was created on 8 July 1948. It was later renamed to, simply, the Eva Perón Foundation. Its funding began with 10,000 pesos provided by Evita herself.[34]