Francisco Orlich Bolmarcich

Francisco José Orlich Bolmarcich (10 March 190729 October 1969)

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

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.

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.

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. His widow, Marita Camacho Quirós, lived to be 114 years old. This made her the oldest living person ever in Costa Rica, and the oldest former First Lady in the world. She outlived her husband by over 55 years.