Ana Rosa Chacón

Ana Rosa Chacón (1889 – 28 March 1985) was a Costa Rican educator, health education practitioner, feminist and suffragette. In 1953, in the first election held after women became enfranchised in Costa Rica, Chacón became one of the first three women elected to serve in public office.

Biography Ana Rosa Chacón González In 1913, she helped found the program "La Gota de Leche" (A drop of milk) with Ángela Acuña Braun, Marian Le Cappellain and Sara Casal, which aimed at providing milk to disadvantaged children as well as educating their mothers in proper nutrition and encouraging breastfeeding.

In 1919, Chacón participated in a teacher's strike led by Acuña against the administration of President Federico Tinoco Granados for labor law violations, along with Matilde Carranza, Lilia González, Carmen Lyra, Victoria Madrigal, Vitalia Madrigal, Esther De Mezerville, María Ortiz, Teodora Ortiz, Ester Silva and Andrea Venegas. The main issue for teachers was that their salaries were low and that was compounded because they were paid only in vouchers, which were often depreciated and redeemed at half their value. During the protest, La Información's office, the official government newspaper, was burned down by the teachers. and again in 1934, the group organized meeting with Congress. They called together a commission focusing on various professional evaluations including legal, sociological, educational, literary and health aspects. The goal was to present a comprehensive overview for the legislature to see how women's lives were impacted. Chacón was part of the education committee and though the legislators agreed that the women's concerns were legitimate, they took no action. Chacón and other feminists continued to push for their right to vote, meeting with every subsequent Congress—1939, 1941, 1944, 1947—until finally, after the Costa Rican Civil War, enfranchisement was granted in 1948.

In 1940, Chacón participated along with Acuña, Virginia Albertazzi, Guillermina Bello, Lidia Fernández and Esther Lina Salazar in the creation of the Costa Rican branch of the Pan American Round Table and an American School. The goal was to obtain scholarships for deserving students, create teacher exchanges, build libraries, and offer education to domestic workers. In 1943, when President Rafael Calderón Guardia attempted to change the election laws to manipulate the vote, Chacón was one of the leaders of the protest and spoke not only about the reform but the need for suffrage. She served from 1 November 1953 to 30 April 1958.