Francisco Orlich Bolmarcich

In this Hispanic American name, the first or paternal surname is Orlich and the second or maternal family name is Bolmarcich.

Francisco Orlich Bolmarcich
OYC
34th President of Costa Rica
In office
8 May 1962 – 8 May 1966
Vice PresidentRaúl Blanco Cervantes
Carlos Sáenz Herrera
Preceded byMario Echandi Jiménez
Succeeded byJosé Joaquín Trejos Fernández
Minister of Public Works and Transport
In office
8 November 1953 – 1957
PresidentJosé Figueres Ferrer
Preceded byCarlos Rojas Quirós
Succeeded byCarlos Espinach Escalante
Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica
In office
1 November 1953 – 8 November 1953
Preceded byAntonio Peña Chavarría
Succeeded byDaniel Oduber Quirós
ConstituencySan José (1st Office)
President of the National Liberation Party
In office
April 1952 – April 1956
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byMaría Teresa Obregón Zamora
Secretary of Public Works
In office
23 April 1948 – 8 November 1949
PresidentSantos León Herrera (acting)
José Figueres Ferrer
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byHernán Azofeifa Víquez
Deputy of the Constitutional Congress
In office
1 May 1946 – 30 April 1948
ConstituencySan José Province
In office
1 May 1940 – 30 April 1944
ConstituencySan José Province
Additional positions
1938–1940Municipal President of San Ramón
Personal details
BornFrancisco José Orlich Bolmarcich
(1907-03-10)10 March 1907
San Ramón, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Died29 October 1969(1969-10-29) (aged 62)
San José, Costa Rica
PartyPLN (from 1951)
Other political
affiliations
Social Democratic (1946–1951)
Democratic (1946)
PRN (before 1946)
Spouse
Marita Camacho Quirós
​
​
(m. 1932)​
Children2
Occupation
  • Politician
  • farmer
  • shoemaker
  • businessman
Signature
NicknameDon Chico

Francisco José Orlich Bolmarcich[1] (10 March 1907 – 29 October 1969)[2] was a Costa Rican businessman and politician who served as the 34th President of Costa Rica from 1962 to 1966.[3]

He was an ethnic Croat, a descendant of Croatian settlers from the town of Punat on the island of Krk, Croatia.[4]

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 J. 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.[5][6][7]

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.[8]

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.

Death

He died of a stroke on 29 October 1969 in San José, at the age of 62.[2] His widow, Marita Camacho Quirós, lived to be 114 years old. This made her the oldest living person ever in Costa Rica,[9][a] and the oldest former First Lady in the world. She outlived her husband by over 55 years.[11]

Notes

  1. ^ There was an unverified claimant for the oldest Costa Rican, José "Chepito" Delgado, but he died on 27 May 2021.[10]

References

  1. ^ Rulers.org
  2. ^ a b "Expresidentes y expresidentas de Costa Rica - Francisco José Orlich Bolmarcich". Asamblea de Costa Rica (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
  3. ^ El Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones: Presidentes de la República de Costa Rica
  4. ^ "Orlich Bolmarcich, José Francisco".
  5. ^ Amerasinghe, Terence P. (2009). Emerging World Law, Volume 1. Institute for Economic Democracy. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-933567-16-7.
  6. ^ "Letters from Thane Read asking Helen Keller to sign the World Constitution for world peace. 1961". Helen Keller Archive. American Foundation for the Blind. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  7. ^ "Letter from World Constitution Coordinating Committee to Helen, enclosing current materials". Helen Keller Archive. American Foundation for the Blind. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  8. ^ "Preparing earth constitution | Global Strategies & Solutions | The Encyclopedia of World Problems". The Encyclopedia of World Problems | Union of International Associations (UIA). Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Marita Camacho Quirós". Gerontology Research Group. 17 August 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  10. ^ "'Chepito' turns 121: why is he not in the Guinness Records?". Q COSTA RICA. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  11. ^ De La Cruz, Vladimir (10 March 2021). "Ante los 110 años de la Primera Dama de la República, Marita Camacho Quirós, de Orlich Bolmarcich" (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 March 2025.
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