Francisco Orlich Bolmarcich
Francisco José Orlich Bolmarcich (10 March 1907 – 29 October 1969) was the 34th President of Costa Rica from 1962 to 1966.
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He was an ethnic Croat, a descendant of Croatian settlers from the town Punat on the island of Krk, Croatia. His villa in Punat is named "Villa Costarica".
Francisco Orlich | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 34th President of Costa Rica | |
| In office 8 May 1962 – 8 May 1966 | |
| Vice President | Raúl Blanco Cervantes Carlos Sáenz Herrera |
| Preceded by | Mario Echandi Jiménez |
| Succeeded by | José Joaquín Trejos Fernández |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Francisco José Orlich Bolmarcich 10 March 1907 San Ramón, Costa Rica |
| Died | 29 October 1969 (aged 62) San José, Costa Rica |
| Political party | National Liberation Party (Costa Rica) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Signature |  |
Together with his brothers he founded in 1928 FJ Orlich & Hnos Ltda. (FJ Orlich & Brothers Limited). At first a large supply store in his hometown of San Ramón, this eventually grew to become one of Costa Rica's largest coffee firms. His half-brother, Franjo Jozef Orlich, the namesake of the firm, moved from Costa Rica to Pennsylvania and worked for Bethlehem Steel as a Pattern Maker in the Castings Plant.
A long-time friend of José Figueres Ferrer, with whom he had traveled together to study in the United States, Orlich was Figueres' second in command within the National Liberation Army in the Costa Rican Civil War.
Following that, the National Liberation Party was founded in the Orlich family farm in La Paz, San Ramón.
He twice served as Public Works Minister (1948–1949, 1953–1957) in Figueres' cabinets. Afterwards he ran for president in 1958, but lost to Mario Echandi Jiménez. He ran again in 1962, against the defeated 1948 leader Dr Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, and won the presidency.
He was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a world constitution. As a result, for the first time in human history, a World Constituent Assembly convened to draft and adopt the Constitution for the Federation of Earth.
Always called by his countrymen 'Don Chico', during his presidency he faced the major eruption of the Irazú volcano, that started just as U.S. President John F. Kennedy was visiting Costa Rica and lasted for over a year, causing major agricultural damage and landslides in the city of Cartago.
Don Chico left the presidency as a well loved figure.[citation needed]
He died of a stroke on 29 October 1969 in San José, at the age of 62. As of 2024, his wife, Marita Camacho Quirós, is 113 years old. This makes her the oldest living and longest lived person in Costa Rica and the oldest former First Lady in the world.[citation needed]
References
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