Luis Rafael de la Trinidad Otilio Ulate Blanco served as President of Costa Rica from 1949 to 1953. His French heritage comes from his mother, Ermida Blanco. He never married but had two daughters, Olga Marta Ulate Rojas (1937–2007) and Maria Ermida Ulate Rojas (1938) with Haydee Rojas Smith

José María Hipólito Figueres Ferrer served three terms as President of Costa Rica: 1948–1949, 1953–1958 and 1970–1974. During his first term in office he abolished the country's army, nationalized its banking sector, granted women and Afro-Costa Ricans the right to vote, and offered Costa Rican nationality to people of African descent.