Gerónima Montealegre Fernández de Carranza Ramírez (October 30, 1823 - September 16, 1892) was

First Lady of Costa Rica First Lady or First Gentleman of Costa Rica (Spanish: ''Primera dama o Primer caballero de Costa Rica'') is the title of the wife or husband of the president of Costa Rica. Traditionally, the president's wife was colloquially known as ''la presi ...

and wife of Temporary Head of State Bruno Carranza. She was born in San José on October 30, 1823 to her parents Mariano Montealegre Bustamante (Costa Rica's first Vice Head of State and diplomat) and Jerónima Fernández Chacón, and was sister of President

José María Montealegre Fernández José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

. She married Carranza on January 3, 1847 and later became First Lady when he took power by coup d'etat from April 27 to August 8, 1870. Using her mother's inheritance, she and her sisters founded ''Hospicio de la Trinidad'', the first orphanage in the city of San José. She died in this city on September 16, 1892. At the time of her death the local press nicknamed her "mother of the orphans and the handicapped" (in Spanish ''"madre de los huérfanos y los desvalidos"''). She was the great-great-grandmother of actress

Madeleine Stowe Madeleine Marie Stowe Mora (born August 18, 1958) is an American actress. She appeared mostly on television before her role in the 1987 crime-comedy film ''Stakeout''. She went on to star in the films ''Revenge'' (1990), ''Unlawful Entry'' (199 ...

References

DOÑA GERONIMA MONTEALEGRE FERNANDEZ DE CARRANZA RAMIREZ
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montealegre, Geronima 1823 births 1892 deaths First ladies and gentlemen of Costa Rica People from San José, Costa Rica Costa Rican philanthropists 19th-century Costa Rican people 19th-century philanthropists