Picado Michalski, Teodoro (1900–1960)

Teodoro Picado Michalski (b. 10 January 1900; d. 1 June 1960), president of Costa Rica (1944–1948), educator, and legislator.

Teodoro Picado Michalski came to the presidency after one of the more violent electoral campaigns in Costa Rican history. Although he won election by an ample margin, his victory and his presidency were marred by charges of fraud and the consequent questioning of his right to govern.

Picado brought to the presidency a distinguished record as legislator, educator, public servant, and a truly gifted individual. Born in San José, he spent his early years in rural schools. After his graduation from the Liceo de Costa Rica in 1916, he taught high school history; in 1922 he received his law degree from the School of Law in San José. In 1930 he was appointed director of the Instituto de Alajuela, a secondary school. His involvement at all levels of education, from school administrator to law professor, helped in his role as secretary of education under President Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno (1932–1936). He was elected to Congress in 1936 and served as president of that body from 1941 to 1944.

As the standard bearer of the Victory Bloc (Bloque de la Victoria), the political alliance between the Calderónists and the Communists in the 1944 election, Picado's candidacy was controversial from the beginning. The opposition to his government took many forms, from newspaper attacks to terrorism, and Picado's administration was largely reduced to the task of surviving until the next election.

When Congress nullified the results of the 1948 election, Picado was overthrown by an armed uprising led by José Figueres Ferrer. He remained in exile in Managua, Nicaragua, until his death.

See alsoCosta Rica .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alberto Cañas, Los Ocho Años (1955).

Ligia Estrada Molina, Teodoro Picado Michalski: Su aporte a la historiografía (1967).

John Patrick Bell, Crisis in Costa Rica (1971).

Charles D. Ameringer, Don Pepe (1978).

Additional Bibliography

LaWare, David Craig. From Christian Populism to Social Democracy: Workers, Populists, and the State in Costa Rica 1940–1956. Ph.D. diss., 1996.

Molina Jiménez, Iván. Urnas de lo inesperado: Fraude electoral y lucha politíca en Costa Rica (1901–1948). San José: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica, 1999.

Yashar, Deborah J. Demanding Democracy: Reform and Reaction in Costa Rica and Guatemala, 1870s–1950s, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1997.

                              John Patrick Bell