Angela Merkel

Bio:
Angela Merkel (born Angela Dorothea Kasner on July 17, 1954 in Hamburg, Germany) is a German politician and former research scientist. Angela was born in Germany during a time the country was split in two. Growing up in East Germany, the more oppressed side of the country, she learned to speak Russian fluently and developed a proficiency in Mathematics. She studied physics at the University of Leipzig. She earned her doctorate in physics from the Academy of Sciences in Berlin-Aldershof. After the Berlin wall fell, Angela entered politics, standing in the 1990 federal election. She was elected to the Bundestag, the German legislative branch. Angela climbed up the political ladder, being appointed Secretary-General of the Christian Democratic Union political party in 1998. In 2005, after brokering a coalition government with the Christian Social Union, Angela was made the very first female Chancellor of Germany. She was reelected in 2009 and 2013. During her tenure as Chancellor, Angela has overseen a strong economy in Germany as she aims to reduce the level of unemployment in her country. She has been the de factor leader of the European Union, and was considered the world’s second most powerful person in 2012 and 2015 by Forbes magazine. Angela was also named Time’s Person of the Year in 2015.

Best Known For:
Angela Merkel is best known as the Chancellor of Germany since 2005.

Personal Life:
Angela married physics students Ulrich Merkel in 1997 and took his last name. They divorced in 1982. Her second husband, Joachim Sauer, is a quantum chemist and professor. They met in 1981 and married privately in 1998. Angela is a die-hard football fan and is known to listen to games while working. She is a Lutheran member of the Evangelical Church in Berlin.