| Francisco Orlich | |
| Order: | 34th President of Costa Rica |
| Term Start: | 8 May 1962 |
| Term End: | 8 May 1966 |
| Vicepresident: | Raúl Blanco Cervantes Carlos Sáenz Herrera |
| Predecessor: | Mario Echandi Jiménez |
| Successor: | José Joaquín Trejos Fernández |
| Birth Name: | Francisco José Orlich Bolmarcich |
| Birth Date: | 10 March 1907 |
| Birth Place: | San Ramón, Costa Rica |
| Death Place: | San José, Costa Rica |
| Children: | 2 |
| Party: | National Liberation Party (Costa Rica) |
| Signature: | Firma Francisco Jose Orlich B.jpg |
Francisco José Orlich Bolmarcich[1] (10 March 190729 October 1969) was the 34th President of Costa Rica from 1962 to 1966.[2] He was an ethnic Croat, a descendant of Croatian settlers from the town of Punat on the island of Krk, Croatia.[3]
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.[4] [5] [6]
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.[7]
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.
He died of a stroke on 29 October 1969 in San José, at the age of 62. As of, his widow, Marita Camacho Quirós, is years old. This makes her the oldest living and longest-lived person in Costa Rica and the oldest former First Lady in the world.