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Rafael Ángel del Socorro Calderón Guardia was the president of Costa Rica from 1940 to 1944.
He was born on 10 March 1900 in San José. Studied in Belgium. Early in his career he was a praticing physician. Became President of Costa Rica in the years of 1940-1944. During his presidency he established the Work Code (the minimum of wages, the rights for the work meetings and the social insurances). As president, he brought Costa Rica into World War II on the Allied side and cooperated closely with the United States. During the war his government confiscated many German assets in the country including large coffee plantations and banking businesses, mostly belonging to German immigrants or Costa Ricans of German descent. This made him very unpopular with the strong German community in the country. This proved to be a mistake in the long run because these German families and their descedants would become backers of José Figueres Ferrer during the 1948 revolution and of his political party PLN. He founded the CCSS (social security) and health administrations for Costa Rica. Established the University of Costa Rica. He was supported by the poor but criticized by the rich. Was allied himself with both the Roman Catholic Church and the Communist Party. That alienated him from the conservatives, the intelectuals and the upper classes. In 1944 was followed by Teodoro Picado Michalski. In 1948, Calderón ran again as a presidential candidate. The result of the election was disputed, but the congress declared him the winner over Otilio Ulate Blanco. José Figueres Ferrer headed a popular revolt, and the government was overthrown. Calderón Guardia fled to Nicaragua (where he launched a failed invasion of Costa Rica in 1955), then fled to Mexico. In 1958, Calderón Guardia returned to Costa Rica and served as a parliamentary deputy. He even ran for the presidency again in 1962 but lost. He was also named ambassador to Mexico (1966-1970). In 1991 in Barrio Escalante (San Jose) was opened the museum dedicated to him. The statue of him is standing in the Central Square in San Rafael de Barva.
His son, Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier, was president from 1990 to 1994.