First ladies and gentlemen of Costa Rica

First Lady of Costa Rica
First Lady of Costa Rica
	Incumbent; Signe Zeicate; since 8 May 2022
Inaugural holder	Pacífica Fernández Oreamuno
Formation	8 May 1847

First Lady or First Gentleman of Costa Rica (Spanish: Primera dama o Primer caballero de Costa Rica) is the title of the wife or husband of the president of Costa Rica. Traditionally, the president's wife was colloquially known as la presidenta ("the president", with a feminine -a ending). The current term was first used under Federico Alberto Tinoco Granados.

Operations

The Office of First Lady of First Gentleman is allocated no official funding from the government budget of Costa Rica.^[1] Instead, the office and officeholder relies on private donations to cover the expenses.^[1] These funds support the first lady's causes and foundations, which traditionally focus on cultural, environmental, and social issues.^[1] The office of Leila Rodríguez Stahl, the first lady 2002 to 2006, had a staff of approximately 60 at its largest.^[1] However, many of those staffers worked pro bono or were employed temporarily from other government offices.^[1]

First ladies and gentlemen of Costa Rica (1847–present)

First Lady or Gentleman	Lifespan	President	Years in position	Notes
Pacífica Fernández Oreamuno	1828–1885	José María Castro Madriz	1847–1849	José María Castro Madriz was the first President of Costa Rica, making Pacífica Fernández the inaugural First Lady.
Felipa Montes de Oca Gamero	1814-1882	Miguel Mora Porras	1849
Inés Aguilar Cueto	1830-1895	Juan Rafael Mora Porras	1849–1859
Sofía Matilde Joy Redman	1823–1908	José María Montealegre Fernández	1859–1863	Born in the United Kingdom
Esmeralda Oreamuno Gutiérrez	1834-1873	Jesús Jiménez Zamora	1863–1866
Pacífica Fernández Oreamuno	1828–1885	José María Castro Madriz	1866–1868
Esmeralda Oreamuno Gutiérrez	1834-1873	Jesús Jiménez Zamora	1868–1870
Gerónima Montealegre Fernández	1823–1892	Bruno Carranza Ramírez	1870
Emilia Solórzano Alfaro	1835–1882	Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez	1870–1876
Isaura Carazo Peralta	1838-1905	Aniceto Esquivel Sáenz	1876
Guadalupe Gutiérrez García	1828-1886	Vicente Herrera Zeledón	1876–1877
Emilia Solórzano Alfaro	1835–1914	Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez	1877–1882
Angélica Guardia Solórzano	1858-1938	Saturnino Lizano Gutiérrez	1882
Cristina Guardia Gutiérrez	1842-1907	Próspero Fernández Oreamuno	1882–1885
Pacífica Fernández Guardia	1864-1919	Bernardo Soto Alfaro	1885–1890
Luisa Alvarado Carrillo	1853-1943	José Rodríguez Zeledón	1890–1894
Manuela Rodríguez Alvarado	1872-1953	Rafael Yglesias Castro	1894–1902
Adela Salazar Guardia	1869-1907	Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra	1902–1906
Adela Herrán Bonilla	1861-1932	Cleto González Víquez	1906–1910
Vacant since President Oreamuno was unmarried		Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno	1910–1914
Vacant since President González was unmarried		Alfredo González Flores	1914–1917
María Fernández Le Cappellain	1877–1961	Federico Tinoco Granados	1917–1919
Clementina Quirós Quirós	1875-1965	Juan Bautista Quirós Segura	1919
Natalia Morúa Ortíz		Francisco Aguilar Barquero	1919–1920
Elena Gallegos Rosales	1882–1954	Julio Acosta García	1920–1924	Born in El Salvador
Vacant since President Oreamuno was unmarried		Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno	1924–1928
Adela Herrán Bonilla	1861-1932	Cleto González Víquez	1928–1932	Died in 1932 while President González was still in office
Beatriz Zamora López	1871–1933	Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno	1932–1933	Beatriz Zamora López died in office in 1933. There was no First Lady until 1936
María Eugenia Calvo Badia	1914-1983	Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno	1936	Second wife of President Oreamuno
Julia Fernández Rodríguez	1882-1957	León Cortés Castro	1936–1940
Yvonne Clays Spoelders	1906–1994	Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia	1940–1944	Born in Belgium. First woman to serve as a Costa Rican diplomat.
Etelvina Ramírez Montiel	1901-1976	Teodoro Picado Michalski	1944–1948
Henrietta Boggs	1918–2020	José Figueres Ferrer	1948–1949	Born in the United States. Boggs and Figueres divorced on January 1, 1954^[2]
Vacant since President Ulate was unmarried		Otilio Ulate Blanco	1949–1953	President Ulate never married, though he was in a long-term relationship with Haydée Rojas Smith for many years.
Karen Olsen Beck	1933–	José Figueres Ferrer	1954–1958	Born in Denmark. Olsen married President Figueres in office on February 7, 1954, becoming First Lady.^[2]
Olga De Benedictis Antonelli	1916-2001	Mario Echandi Jiménez	1958–1962	Daughter of Italian parents
Marita Camacho Quirós	1911–	Francisco José Orlich Bolmarcich	1962–1966	Became a supercentenarian in 2021.
Clara Fonseca Guardia	1916-2002	José Joaquín Trejos Fernández	1966–1970
Karen Olsen Beck	1933–	José Figueres Ferrer	1970–1974	Born in Denmark
Marjorie Elliott Sypher	1925–2015	Daniel Oduber Quirós	1974–1978	Born in Canada
Estrella Zeledón Lizano	1929–2019	Rodrigo Carazo Odio	1978–1982
Doris Yankelewitz Berger	1934–2016	Luis Alberto Monge Álvarez	1982–1986	Costa Rica's first Jewish First Lady^[3]
Margarita Penón Góngora	1948–	Óscar Arias Sánchez	1986–1990
Gloria Bejarano Almada	1952–	Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier	1990–1994	Born in Mexico
Josette Altmann Borbón	1958–	José María Figueres Olsen	1994–1998
Lorena Clare Facio	1943–	Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría	1998–2002
Leila Rodríguez Stahl	1942–	Abel Pacheco de la Espriella	2002–2006	Rodriguez won the Miss Costa Rica pageant in 1960^[1]
Vacant since President Arias was divorced at the time		Óscar Arias	2006–2010
José María Rico	1934–2019	Laura Chinchilla Miranda	2010–2014	Born in Spain. 1st First Gentleman of Costa Rica
Mercedes Peñas Domingo	1968–	Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera	2014–2018	Born in Spain. ^[4]
Claudia Dobles Camargo	1980–	Carlos Alvarado Quesada	2018–2022
Signe Zeicate	1972–	Rodrigo Chaves Robles	2022–2026	Born in Latvia