Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, has been named as Time magazine’s Person of the Year.
The magazine cited her attitude and leadership throughout the debt crisis in Greece, her encouragement to open borders and embrace migrants, and the resolve during the Paris terror attacks, as reasoning behind the decision
Merkel becomes only the fourth woman since 1927 to be crowned Person of the Year and the first woman in 29 years to grace the cover of the magazine. She joins Wallis Simpson, previously the Duchess of Windsor and American socialite; Queen Elizabeth II; and Corazon Aquino, the first female president of the Philippines.
Merkel has been Chancellor in Germany since 2005 and is the leader of the Christian Democratic Union; being the first woman to hold either of these positions. Merkel was raised in East Germany and was a former research scientist.
Of the decision, Nancy Gibb, Time editor said, “Leaders are tested only when people don’t want to follow. For asking more of her country than most politicians would dare, for standing firm against tyranny as well as expedience and for providing steadfast moral leadership in a world where it is in short supply, Angela Merkel is Time’s Person of the Year.”
She continued, “Each time Merkel stepped in. Germany would bail Greece out, on her strict terms. It would welcome refugees as casualties of radical Islamist savagery, not carriers of it. And it would deploy troops abroad in the fight against ISIS.”
Runners up for this year’s award include Donald Trump, Caitlyn Jenner and the activist group Black Lives Matter.
Read more about Times magazine’s decision here.
