Leila Rodríguez Stahl (born March 30, 1942

San José, Costa Rica San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Central Valley, within San José Canton. San ...

) is a Costa Rican politician, painter, sculptor and beauty pageant titleholder who winner of the Miss Costa Rica 1960 and then represented Costa Rica at

Miss Universe 1960 Miss Universe 1960, the 9th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 9 July 1960 at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, United States. Linda Bement of United States became the third American to win the crown and was handed over the ti ...

. She served as the First Lady of Costa Rica from 2002 until 2006 during the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...

of her husband,

Abel Pacheco Abel Pacheco de la Espriella ( ; born 22 December 1933 in San José) is a Costa Rican politician who was president of Costa Rica between 2002 and 2006, representing the Social Christian Unity Party ''(Partido Unidad Social Cristiana'' – PUS ...

Biography

Rodriguez was born to Yurán Rodríguez Rodríguez and Leila Stahl Navarro in

on March 30, 1942. She is the third of her parents four children. Rodriguez attended primary school at Escuela Vitalia Madrigal. She initially enrolled at Colegio Superior de Señoritas for secondary school, but later transferred to Colegio Sagrado Corazón de Jesús in San José. She then attended Escuela Boston and the American Business Academy. Rodriguez also studied art and painting at a school in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where she lived for five years. Rodríguez married Abel Pacheco, the future

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 ...

, on November 20, 1975. Rodríguez and Pacheco had one son, Fabian. Abel Pacheco also had five children from his first marriage: Abel, Elsa, Yolanda, Sergio and Valeria. She held at least four major art exhibitions during the 1990s, including two at the Club Unión in 1991 and 1995, the Galería Valanti in 1993, and an exhibition called ''III Encuentro de Primeras Damas de América y el Caribe'' in 1993. A restropective of her work, ''Paisajes y bodegones'', featuring landscape paintings and

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

s, opened at the Cultural Center of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

in Los Yoses, Costa Rica, on October 25, 2002. Rodríguez served as First Lady of Costa Rica from 2002 to 2006. Under Rodríguez, the Office of First Lady promoted Costa Rican history and national identity by focusing on three areas: culture, beautification and the arts, and the environment. The focus of her program, which was extended nationwide, varied depending on the local culture and history of the individual

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...

. Her office also coordinated other programs, including an eye clinic and construction of a school for children with neurological disabilities, and supported four foundations: Mundo Solidario, Mundo de Opportunidades, Mundo de Luz, and Cadena Mayor. The Office of First Lady receives no national funding from the government of Costa Rica. In response, Rodríguez solicited private donations to fund her programs and hired some of the office's 60 person staff

pro bono ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez Stahl, Leila 1942 births Costa Rican beauty pageant winners Costa Rican expatriates in the United States Costa Rican painters Costa Rican women artists Costa Rican sculptors First ladies and gentlemen of Costa Rica Living people Miss Universe 1960 contestants People from Chicago People from San José, Costa Rica Costa Rican women painters