German Chancellor Angela Merkel, easily the most powerful woman in the world, has been named Time Magazine’s 2015 Person of the Year. Amazingly, this is the first time in nearly 30 years that a woman has earned the title.
As the leader of Europe’s most populous country and the fourth-largest economy in the world, Merkel solidified her status as a world figure. The 61-year-old has a background like no other Western leader, having grown up in the communist German Democratic Republic. She has been known for a low-key, even dull style, but 2015 - a decade after first becoming Germany’s Chancellor - forced her to become a major player in world politics.
Merkel has taken on the growing refugee crisis in Europe, took a big role in dealing with Europe’s debt and faced off against Vladimir Putin when Russia creeped into Ukraine. She also stood by France when Paris was attacked just weeks ago.
“Merkel brandished a different set of values—humanity, generosity, tolerance—to demonstrate how Germany’s great strength could be used to save, rather than destroy,” Time managing editor Nancy Gibbs wrote Wednesday. “It is rare to see a leader in the process of shedding an old and haunting national identity. ‘If we now have to start apologizing for showing a friendly face in response to emergency situations,’ she said, ‘then that’s not my country.’”
Time also published a profile on Merkel. The last time the magazine chose a woman for the title was in 1986, when Corazon Aquino, the president of the Philippines, was named Person of the Year.
The runners-up for the title this year were Donald Trump, Black Lives Matter activists, Caitlyn Jenner, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and ISIS leader Abu Bark al-Baghdadi.