List of Famous people born in San José, Costa Rica

Porfirio Ricardo José Luis Daniel Oduber Quirós was a Costa Rican politician, lawyer, philosopher, poet, and essayist. He served as the President of Costa Rica from 1974 to 1978. He is credited with the creation of the Sistema Nacional de Radio y Televisión and the Universidad Estatal a Distancia.

Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría is a Costa Rican economist, lawyer, businessman and politician who served as President of Costa Rica from 1998 to 2002. He was minister of planning from 1968 to 1970 and minister of the presidency in 1970 during the administration of Jose Joaquin Trejos Fernandez ; member of the board of the Costa Rican Central Bank from 1966 to 1969; congressman from 1990 to 1993, serving as president of the Legislative Assembly during the 1991 to 1992 period; and was elected Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) in 2004. He voluntarily stepped down from this post to return to his country to face allegations of financial wrongdoing during his presidential tenure in Costa Rica. On April 27 of 2011 he was sentenced to 5 years in prison, but this ruling was later reversed in a December 2012 decision by an appeals court, which found him innocent of all charges.

José María Castro Madriz was a Costa Rican lawyer, academic, diplomat, and politician. He served twice as President of Costa Rica, from 1847 to 1849, and from 1866 to 1868. On both occasions he was prevented from completing his term of office by military coups. During his first administration, on 31 August 1848, he formally declared Costa Rica an independent republic, definitively severing Costa Rica's ties to the moribund Federal Republic of Central America.

Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen is a Costa Rican diplomat with experience in high level national and international policy and multilateral negotiations. She was appointed Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in July 2010, six months after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen. During the next six years she worked to rebuild the global climate change negotiating process, leading to the 2015 Paris Agreement, widely recognized as a historical achievement.

Rodney Wallace Burns is a Costa Rican footballer who plays as a left winger.

Andrey Amador Bikkazakova is a Costa Rican professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Ineos Grenadiers.

Luis Antonio Marín Murillo is a Costa Rican former professional footballer, who played as a centre-back, and former captain of the Costa Rica national team. He is currently the manager of Alajuelense.

Rónald Alfonso González Brenes is a Costa Rican former professional footballer and current manager.

Francisco Javier Calvo Quesada is a Costa Rican international footballer who currently plays for Chicago Fire in MLS.

Pacífica Fernández Oreamuno was the inaugural First Lady of Costa Rica and wife of President José María Castro Madriz. She was born in San José, Costa Rica on August 23, 1828 to her parents former Head of State Manuel Fernández Chacón and Dolores Oreamuno Muñoz de la Trinidad, and was sister of President Próspero Fernández Oreamuno.