‘TIME’ magazine has officially named its person of the year for 2015. After narrowing down the field to 8 earlier this week, it’s been revealed that German chancellor Angela Merkel has received the title.
Angela Merkel, 61, is TIME magazine’s Person of the Year for 2015. The female German chancellor beat out Donald Trump, Caitlyn Jenner and more to earn the title, which was announced on Dec. 8.
Angela, who has been the Chancellor of Germany since 2005, has been at the center of major news events this year, including economic strife in the Eurozone and Europe’s ongoing migrant crisis. She is the first woman to be named a Chancellor in Germany, as well as leader of the Christian Democratic Union, a position she’s held since 2000. She has been named the most powerful woman in the world a record nine times by Forbes, most recently in May 2015, and is the highest ranking woman on Forbes’most powerful person list, taking the No. 2 spot in both 2012 and 2015.
Following behind the 61-year-old was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of ISIS, with controversial presidential candidate Trump coming in at No. 3. Black Lives Matter activists were No. 4, Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani No. 5, Uber founder Travis Kalanick No. 6, and Caitlyn came in at No. 7.
Merkel led the charge to opening Germany’s doors to thousands of refugees and migrants in the summer of 2015 — a total of 1 million are expected to seek asylum in her country by the end of 2015. During her ten-year term, she’s also had to dealt with the euro crisis in Europe, pushing Greece to reduce its debts to keep Europe a prosperous continent.
Interestingly, it’s been 29 years since a woman has grace the cover of TIME’s POY issue, the last being female Philippines president COrazon Aquino in 1986. But with ten years as German chancellor under her belt and a position as the de facto leader of the powerful European Union, Angela has certainly done a lot to make a difference, making her this year’s rightful title holder.
