Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, who made history as Nicaragua's first female president in 1990, died Saturday morning at her residence in San Jose, Costa Rica, at the age of 95. Her son, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, confirmed her death, revealing that she had been struggling with health issues for several years.

Chamorro's rise to power was catalyzed by the tragic assassination of her husband, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, a notable newspaper editor and vocal critic of both the Sandinista revolutionaries and the Somoza family dictatorship. Serving a crucial term during the 1990s amidst a backdrop of national division following civil war, she distanced herself from daily affairs, allowing her son-in-law to manage government operations while she fostered an image of unity for a fractured nation.

Despite facing criticism from both political extremes, her popularity soared in the latter years, with surveys showing her to be one of the most revered figures in Nicaragua—an emblem of peace adorned with a deep Christian faith. Born on October 18, 1929, in Rivas, Nicaragua, she came from a distinguished background, tracing her lineage back to a 1762 Spanish officer and including several aristocrats and past presidents in her family tree.