Rita Karen Olsen Beck (born January 31, 1933

Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

) is a

Danish American Danish Americans ( da, Dansk-amerikanere) are Americans who have ancestral roots originated fully or partially from Denmark. There are approximately 1,300,000 Americans of Danish origin or descent. History The first Dane known to have arriv ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

. She has served as the

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 ...

during the governments of her husband Jose Figueres Ferrer 1954-1958 and 1970–1974, a Legislative Assemblywoman and the

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 sov ...

of Costa Rica to Israel.

Biography

Olsen was born Rita Karen Olsen in

. Her parents, Walter Olsen and Karen Beck Olsen, had emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and became naturalized

U.S. citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

s. She lived in

Yorktown Heights, New York Yorktown Heights is a census-designated place (CDP) in the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Yorktown, New York, Yorktown in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. The popula ...

. From an early age she exhibited great interest in

social issues A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's cont ...

. While a student at Mary Washington College (now

University of Mary Washington The University of Mary Washington (UMW) is a public liberal arts university in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the Fredericksburg Teachers College, the institution was named Mary Washington College in 1938 after Mary Ball Washingt ...

) she was involved in several movements promoting solidarity with, and defense of, the needy. After graduating from Mary Washington College, Olsen enrolled at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

to study

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

s. She then received a Master of Arts in sociology from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She married the then-

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 C ...

José Figueres Ferrer José María Hipólito Figueres Ferrer (25 September 1906 – 8 June 1990) served as President of Costa Rica on three occasions: 1948–1949, 1953–1958 and 1970–1974. During his first term in office he abolished the country's army, nationa ...

, on February 7, 1954, becoming the country's First Lady. Olsen was 23 years old at the time of the wedding, while Figueres was 47. The ceremony was performed at the home of Figueres' brother, Antonio Figueres, by

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Ruben Odio Herrera. President Figueres had divorced his first wife, former First Lady Henrietta Boggs, on January 1, 1954. With Figueres she had four children, including

José María José María (abbreviated José Mª) is a Spanish language male given name, usually considered a single given name rather than two names, and is a combination of the Spanish names of Joseph and Mary, the parents of Jesus Christ.Rafael Falcón, Chr ...

, also president of Costa Rica 1994–1998; and

Christiana Figueres Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen (born 7 August 1956) is a Costa Rican diplomat who has led national, international and multilateral policy negotiations. She was appointed Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFC ...

, a specialist in environment and

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, who is the executive secretary of the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...

References

Living people 1933 births Members of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica Ambassadors of Costa Rica to Israel First Ladies and Gentlemen of Costa Rica National Liberation Party (Costa Rica) politicians 20th-century Costa Rican women politicians 20th-century Costa Rican politicians American social workers Columbia University alumni University of Copenhagen alumni University of Mary Washington alumni American emigrants to Costa Rica American people of Danish descent Costa Rican people of Danish descent People from Yorktown Heights, New York Costa Rican women ambassadors Naturalized citizens of the United States {{CostaRica-diplomat-stub