Naranjo, Carmen (1928–)

Costa Rican author and government administrator. Born Jan 30, 1928, in Cartago, Costa Rica.

One of Central America's most important female political and cultural figures, who criticized the political and economic elite and government bureaucracy, in her novel Diario de una multitud (1965), but also made significant contributions as Costa Rican government official; joined Welfare Department (1954), becoming the highest-ranking female civil servant as undersecretary of social security system (1961) and 1st female top administrative officer (1971); appointed ambassador to Israel (1972); published numerous articles to promote better understanding between the 2 nations, collected in Por Israel y las páginas de la biblia (Through Israel and the Bible's Pages, 1976); joined cabinet of president Daniel Oduber as minister of culture, youth and sports (1974) and pursued progressive agenda, emphasizing centrality of culture and its nonelitist development; founded National Theater Company, Symphonic Orchestra of Costa Rica, and Costa Rican Film Institute; faced opposition from conservatives and resigned over her attempt to air a tv documentary presenting social, economic and environmental problems of Costa Rica (1976); became director of Museum of Costa Rican Art (1982) and of EDUCA, Central American University publishing house (1984); served as technical assistant for social security planning at Organization of American States and presided over Central American commission of aid to families of "disappeared" students and teachers; won acclaim for Responso por el niño Juan Manuel (Response for the Child Juan Manuel, 1971), said to be one of most important novels of contemporary Central American literature, which received Premio Educa (1974); received National Prize Aquileo Echeverría for novel Los perros no ladraron (The Dogs Didn't Bark, 1966), Editorial Costa Rica Prize for short story "Hoy es un largo día" (Today is a Long Day, 1974), as well as National Magón Prize (1986) and Chile's Gabriela Mistral Medal (1996).

See also Luz Ivette Martínez, Carmen Naranjo y la narativa feminina en Costa Rica (Editorial Universitaria Centroamericana, 1987).