Romualdo Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno (February 6, 1859 – January 4, 1945) served as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

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 ...

on three occasions: 1910–1914, 1924–1928 and 1932–1936. He was one of the best known lawyers in Costa Rican history and a University of Santo Tomás graduate. Shortly before assuming power in 1910, the province of Cartago was hit by a powerful earthquake which destroyed most of the city and killed hundreds. One of his main struggles was the rebuilding of the biggest city in the country at the time. After the earthquake, Jiménez outlawed construction with

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

. Another notable aspect of his first term was the consolidation of the country's external debt with a great part of the debt owed to France being repaid. During his second term in office, he created the National Insurance Bank, The Bank of Mortgage Credit, the School of Agriculture and founded the Ministry of Health. He also began the electrification of the Pacific railway system and the creation of the Pacific port of

Puntarenas Puntarenas () is a city in the Puntarenas (canton), Puntarenas canton of Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Puntarenas canton, it is awarded the title of city, which is made from the Puntar ...

. After his second term, he stepped away from the political scene for four years. He was again elected President in 1932. During his last term in office he concentrated on the country's infrastructure and educational system. He built several large buildings for school housing, improved and built new roads throughout the country and constructed an aqueduct system that started in the central valley at Ojo de Agua that flowed into the Pacific Ocean at

. During his administration, the bridge from

Filadelfia Filadelfia () is the capital of Boquerón Department in the Gran Chaco of western Paraguay. It is the centre of the Fernheim Colony. It is about a 5-hour drive from the capital of Asunción. With a population of about 20,000, it is the largest ...

and

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

was constructed, as was the Old National Theater. He died in San José on 4 January 1945. His father was the two-time president Jesús Jiménez.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jimenez Oreamuno, Ricardo 1859 births 1945 deaths People from Cartago Province Presidents of Costa Rica Vice presidents of Costa Rica Children of presidents Foreign ministers of Costa Rica Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica judges Costa Rican agnostics Costa Rican liberals