Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021, becoming one of the most influential leaders in modern European politics and the first woman to hold the office.
Merkel grew up in communist East Germany, trained as a physicist, and entered politics following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, rising through the Christian Democratic Union party to become its leader.
As Chancellor, she navigated Germany and the European Union through significant crises, including the 2008 global financial crisis, the subsequent European debt crisis, and the 2015 European migrant crisis, during which Germany accepted over a million refugees.
Merkel stepped down in 2021 after 16 years in office, widely regarded as one of the most stable and influential leaders in modern German and European history.