Eusebio Figueroa Oreamuno

Eusebio Figueroa Oreamuno (5 November 1827 – 11 August 1883) was a Costa Rican jurist, academic and politician who served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs in 1883. He previously served as the 24th President of the Supreme Court from 1876 to 1878.

Earlier in his career, he held a number of public offices in Nicaragua, including director of the official gazette, congressman, army prosecutor, diplomat, and minister plenipotentiary. He died after being wounded in a prominent duel with Minister to Spain León Fernández.

Biography Figueroa was born in Cartago on 5 November 1827, the son of Antonio Figueroa, a native of the Canary Islands, and Ramona Oreamuno Jiménez. Orphaned at an early age, he moved to Nicaragua, where he settled in Granada and completed his primary and legal studies at the Universidad Oriental. After obtaining his doctorate in law, he was admitted to the Costa Rican Bar on 3 May 1853.

While residing in Nicaragua, Figueroa held several public offices. He served as director of La Gaceta, the country's official gazette, as a member of the Nicaraguan Congress, army prosecutor, secretary of the Nicaraguan legations in Guatemala and France, and minister plenipotentiary to the Central American republics.

Figueroa returned permanently to Costa Rica in 1862. The following year, he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to El Salvador and married María Cristina Espinach Bonilla in Cartago. He subsequently held numerous public offices in Costa Rica. He served as editor of the Gaceta Oficial, and as prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Justice from 1864 to 1868. In May 1868, he was appointed a magistrate of the Supreme Court, resigning later that year to become Secretary of State for the Interior, War, Public Works, and Justice in the administration of President Jesús Jiménez Zamora. Figueroa also played a leading role in Costa Rica's legal profession. He promoted the establishment of the Costa Rican Bar Association, created by Decree No. 24 of 6 August 1881.