BIOGRAPHY

Marita Camacho Quiros was born in San Ramon, Alajuela, Costa Rica on 10 March 1911, as the seventh daughter of Salustio Camacho Muñoz and Zeneida Quirós Quirós. She was baptized on 21 June 1911. Her second cousin, Daniel Oduber Quirós (1921–1991), served as President of Costa Rica from 1974 to 1978.

On 16 April 1932, she married Francisco Orlich Bolmarcich in Naranjo, Alajuela, Costa Rica. The couple adopted two children, Francisco José and Mauricio Orlich Camacho. Her husband was the 34th President of Costa Rica from 1962 to 1966. She made history as the first woman to actively participate alongside her husband in the presidential handover ceremony on 8 May 1962—before then, First Ladies did not have a direct role in the event. As First Lady, she dedicated herself to advocating for children and championed a Costa Rican Social Security initiative that provided housing for underprivileged families.

She accompanied her husband on numerous international trips and played a key role in welcoming U.S. President John F. Kennedy and other Central American and Panamanian leaders to Costa Rica in 1963. That same year, she also visited the Vatican, where she met with Pope John XXIII. In 1962, she toured several European countries, including Spain, where she met Francisco Franco, the nation’s leader from 1939 to 1975.

On 30 June 1964, during an official visit to the United States, President Lyndon B. Johnson welcomed Francisco Orlich and Marita Camacho with a formal address. Later that evening, President Johnson hosted them at a dance party.

She was widowed in 1969.

Her second cousin Adela Monge Quiros (23 January 1907 – 4 January 2015) lived to be 107 years, 346 days. Another one of her distant relatives, Josefina Quirós Soto, lived to be 110.

As of her 109th birthday in 2020, she had five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. In April 2022, she voted in the Costa Rican presidential election runoff.

RECOGNITION

On 10 December 2020, following the passing of 111-year-old Claudia Soto Saborio, she became the oldest living person in Costa Rica.

Her age was verified by Fabrizio Villatoro, and validated by the Latin American Supercentenarians (LAS) on her 110th birthday on 10 March 2021.

In March 2023, she celebrated her 112th birthday, becoming the first person in the nation’s history to reach this milestone. She later became the first to reach ages 113 and 114 as well.

ATTRIBUTION

GALLERY