Rafael Anselmo José Iglesias Castro, also known as Rafael Yglesias (18 April 1861 – 10 April 1924) was a Costa Rican politician who served as

President of Costa Rica The president of the Republic of Costa Rica is the head of state and head of government of Costa Rica. The president is currently elected in direct elections for a period of four years, which is not immediately renewable. Two Vice President of ...

for two consecutive periods from 1894 to 1902.El Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones: Presidentes de la República de Costa Rica
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Biography

He was born to Demetrio Iglesias Llorente and Eudoxia Castro Fernandez, whose father was also president, the "Founder of the Republic"

José María Castro José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

who served two terms, 1847–1849 and 1866–1868. Iglesias traveled to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

to further his education. He also studied law at the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

, but was unable to complete his studies due to his parents' economic difficulties at the time. He went into business, but did not meet with much success in that arena. He got married in a civil ceremony to Rosa Banuet Ross in Cartago. They had two girls, Berta and Rosa (*official records of this marriage were destroyed in the earthquake of Cartago in 1910). He served as Minister of War from 1890-4. Iglesias and Rosa were divorced due to family pressure, and he married Manuela Petronila de la Trinidad Rodríguez Alvarado, daughter of President

José Joaquín Rodríguez Zeledón José Joaquín Rodríguez Zeledón (6 January 1837 – 30 November 1917) was List of Presidents of Costa Rica, President of Costa Rica from 1890 to 1894. Rodríguez was born on 6 January 1837. He studied law at the University of San Carlos of Gu ...

(1890–1894). She was a private woman, and did not share his enthusiasm for the political arena. They had a happy domestic partnership, and produced eleven children; Miguel, Eduardo, Luisa, Eudoxia, Bernardo Rafael, Margarita, Maria de los Angeles, Manuel, Jose Maria and Rafael.

Presidency

In 1894, at the age of 33, Iglesias was elected president by a majority of 23,000, and his election was marked with by largest voter turnout to date. Upon his election, he made official visits to Paris and London. He had an audience with

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, for whom he had great respect. Duly impressed by the technological advancements he saw in Europe, he decided to return to Costa Rica and modernize it. He completed the construction of a national theater ( Teatro Nacional), and was present at its inaugural performance of ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'' presented by a French company under the auspices of Frederic Aubrey. He established the colon as the unit of currency, and put Costa Rica on the

gold standard A gold standard is a backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...

. He completed the Atlantic to Pacific railway, and built up the coastal town of Puerto Limon. In addition, he set up a department of sanitation in the city. He oversaw the building of an

electric tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include segment ...

, and brought municipal electricity to the city of Heredia. He established a house of correction for minors. He also instituted educational reforms, establishing a precedent for text books to be authored by Costa Rican citizens. A firm believer in public education, he founded a school for the arts (Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes) in 1897. Iglesias was the first president to send a scientific expedition to Isla del Coco. Hearing of its rich natural resources, Iglesias closed the penal colony that was there, and decreed the island a nature preserve. Iglesias established a system of emergency health care in the provinces. In 1895, Congress approved a measure to create a board of medicine, surgery and pharmacy, composed of all the doctors, surgeons and pharmacists that had been nationally certified. In 1902, he established the pharmaceutical college (Instituto de Farmacia). Rafael Iglesias Castro

He tried to amend the constitution to allow for a third term, but was defeated. He ran for president again in 1909 and 1913, but was never re-elected.

Later life and death

Iglesias still kept his hand in politics, and served, in 1919, as

Plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of a sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word can als ...

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. Iglesias died in San Jose in 1924, and was buried in the Cementerio General de San Jose. In 1981 he was awarded the title of "Benemerito de la Patria" for his years of service. Billete 5 colones 1968-1992

Rafael Iglesias appeared on Costa Rican paper money in the former denomination of 5 colones. This edition was first printed in 1968. Also, Rafael Iglesias appeared on Costa Rica postal stamps, in different editions.

Sources

* Rafael Iglesias Castro – Carlos Calvo Gamboa, Ministerio de Cultura, Juventud y Deportes, Direccion de Publicaciones, San Jose, Costa Rica, 1980 * Personal Testimony – Berta Flores Iglesias, Iris Flores Schirmer, Fernando Flores Banuet

External links

*
Rafael Iglesias Castro
' at ''guiascostarica.com'' *

' at ''Costa Rica Web'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Yglesias Castro, Rafael 1861 births 1924 deaths 19th-century Costa Rican people 20th-century Costa Rican politicians Ambassadors of Costa Rica to Guatemala Finance ministers of Costa Rica Politicians from San José, Costa Rica Presidents of Costa Rica Vice presidents of Costa Rica