Rosa María Isabel Urcuyo Rodríguez de Somoza (31 July 1924 – 30 August 2014) was a Costa Rican-born diplomat and the

First Lady of Nicaragua The First Lady of Nicaragua (Spanish: ''Primera dama de Nicaragua'') or First Gentleman of Nicaragua (Spanish: ''Primer caballero de Nicaragua'') is the title attributed to the wife or husband of the President of Nicaragua, or their chosen designe ...

from 1957 to 1963 as the wife of President

Luis Somoza Debayle Luis Anastasio Somoza Debayle (18 November 1922 – 13 April 1967) was the 50th President of Nicaragua from 1957 until his resignation in 1963. He succeeded to the presidency following the death of his father, Anastasio Somoza García. The Somoz ...

Biography

Rosa María Isabel Urcuyo Rodríguez was born in Costa Rica on 31 July 1924. Her father was Clodomiro Urcuyo Argüello, a wealthy Nicaraguan who owned large areas of land in northern Costa Rica and served as Minister of Education in the government of Juan Bautista Sacasa. Her mother was Costa Rican Amalia Rodríguez. By maternal line, she was descended from the Costa Rican oligarchy. Isabel was the youngest of a family of four children; her siblings were Vicente (a Nicaraguan ambassador to Spain), Clodomiro, and Anita. She studied at the Colegio La Asunción de Managua, where she earned a bachelor's degree in science and literature. She learned English with a private US American tutor. She married

on 9 June 1947, who flew to San José to court her, as she spent seasons with relatives there. They had met as neighbors when they were children. When Luis returned to Nicaragua as an adult, they soon became engaged. Their civil marriage took place at the Urcuyo house in

Managua Managua () is the capital city, capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and one of the List of largest cities in Central America, largest cities in Central America. Located on the shores of Lake Managua, the city had an estimated population of 1, ...

, and a religious ceremony was held in the Archbishopric, followed by a reception at the Palacio de la Curva in the . Isabel was frequently pregnant during her union with Luis, giving birth to seven children in just 12 years. Isabel Urcuyo de Somoza accompanied her husband at the historic summit held in Costa Rica in 1963, attended by the presidents of Central America and U.S. President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

. She also made several successful tours of Mexico, the United States, Europe, and Japan, where she was decorated by

Emperor Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

with the

Order of the Precious Crown The is a Japanese order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. Since the Order of the Rising Sun at that time was an Order for men, it was established as an Order for women. Originally the order had five classes, but on Apr ...

for fostering friendly relations between his country and Nicaragua. She was also decorated by

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

in Rome. As First Lady, she was known for charitable works, particularly those benefitting children, and organizing social assistance programs. When Luis left office, he and Isabel took a trip around the world. After his death from a heart attack on 13 April 1967, she was made an honorary consul of Nicaragua in New York and ambassador to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. After the

Sandinista Revolution The Nicaraguan Revolution () began with rising opposition to the Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the ouster of the dictatorship in 1978–79, and fighting between the government and the Contras from 1981 to 1990. The revolution r ...

Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; ; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan politician and dictator who has been the president of Nicaragua, co-president of Nicaragua since 18 February 2025, alongside his wife Rosario Murillo. He was the 54th an ...

and subsequently

Violeta Chamorro Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro (; 18 October 1929 – 14 June 2025) was a Nicaraguan politician who served as the 55th president of Nicaragua from 1990 to 1997. She was the country's first female president. Previously, she was a member of ...

denied her entry to Nicaragua. She was granted a visa during the government of

Arnoldo Alemán José Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo (born 23 January 1946) is a Nicaraguan politician who served as the 56th president of Nicaragua from 10 January 1997 to 10 January 2002. In 2003, he was convicted of corruption and sentenced to a 20-year prison term; ...

. She moved to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas in the early 1990s. Isabel Urcuyo de Somoza died in Houston on the morning of 30 August 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urcuyo, Isabel 1924 births 2014 deaths Costa Rican emigrants Immigrants to Nicaragua First ladies and gentlemen of Nicaragua Nicaraguan expatriates in the United States Nicaraguan women diplomats Order of the Precious Crown members Nicaraguan women ambassadors Nicaraguan Roman Catholics 20th-century diplomats Somoza family

Biography

See also

References