Angela Dorothea Kasner

Angela Dorothea Merkel born Angela Dorothea Kasner, is the Chancellor of Germany. Merkel, elected to the German Parliament from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union CDU since 9 April 2000, and Chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary party group from 2002 to 2005. She leads a Grand coalition with its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), formed after the 2005 federal election on 22 November 2005. In 2007, Merkel was also President of the European Council and chair of the G8. She played a central role in the negotiation of the Treaty of Lisbon and the Berlin Declaration. In domestic policy, health care reform and problems concerning future energy development have thus far been the major issues of her tenure.

Merkel is the first woman to become Chancellor of Germany. Merkel, considered by Forbes Magazine to be the most powerful woman in the world at present, is only the third woman to serve on the G8 after Margaret Thatcher and Kim Campbell, and in 2007 became the second woman to chair a G8 summit after Margaret Thatcher.

In 2008 Merkel received the Charlemagne Prize "for her work to reform the European Union", the prize was presented by Nicolas Sarkozy.

She ranked number 15 in the 2009 Time 100 under Leaders & Revolutionaries.