“Politics”, they say is not a woman’s cup of tea! However, there have been many who have proved this stereotyping statement wrong. Don’t you agree? Below is a list of ten women political leaders who have been very famous for their time in the politics. Check it out!
Top 10 Most Famous Women Political Leaders
1. Angela Merkel
The world’s most powerful woman is the backbone of the 27-member European Union and carries the fate of the euro on her shoulders. Angela Merkel is a German politician and former research scientist, who has been the Chancellor of Germany since 2005 and the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2000. She is the first woman to hold either office.
2. Benazir Bhutto
She is probably the first Muslim who came forward and became the prime minister of Pakistan not once but for two terms. She is famous for her leadership, her concern for people and her sophistication. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a bombing on 27 December 2007. The following year, she was named one of seven winners of the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights.
3. Isabel Martínez de Perón
Former president of Argentina, better known as Isabel Martínez de Perón or Isabel Perón, spent a controversial life. She was the third wife of the former President, Juan Perón. During her husband’s third term as president from 1973 to 1974, Isabel served as both vice president and First Lady. Following her husband’s death in office in 1974, Isabel served as president from 1 July 1974 to 24 March 1976. She was the first non-royal female head of state and head of government in the Western Hemisphere in modern times.
4. Park Geun Hye
She is known for being the first female in South Korean politics who was elected as a president. Hye also is the first woman head of state in modern history of Northeast Asia. Prior to her presidency, she was the chairwoman of the conservative Grand National Party (GNP). She is generally considered to be one of the most influential politicians, most powerful personalities in the history of South Korea.
5. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
The 24th and current president of Liberia, Sirleaf is one of the founders of National Patriotic Front of Liberia. She is also famous for being the first female head of state in Africa. The women were recognized “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.” She was conferred the coveted Indira Gandhi Prize by President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 12 September 2013.
6. Sonia Gandhi
As president of the Indian National Congress, Gandhi heads the ruling political party of the world’s second largest population. She is an Italian-born Indian politician. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi who belonged to the Nehru–Gandhi family
7. Yingluck Shinawatra
Nicknamed as PU, Yingluck Shinawatra is a Thai businesswoman and politician, member of the Pheu Thai Party, the 28th and current Prime Minister of Thailand. She is Thailand’s first female Prime Minister and at 45 is the youngest Prime Minister of Thailand in over 60 years.
8. Johanna Sigurdardottir
She is the prime minister of Ireland. Sigurdardottir has also served as the minister of social affairs and security. This woman is also known to have become Iceland’s first prime minister and the world’s first openly lesbian head of government.
9. Dilma Rousseff
The current and 36th president of Brazil, Rousseff is the first woman to hold the office. Rousseff became a socialist during her youth, and following the 1964 coup joined various left-wing and Marxist urban guerrilla groups that fought against the military dictatorship. She was eventually captured and jailed between 1970 and 1972.
10. Golda Meir
Belonging to Israel, Meyerson was a teacher and a politician who was later appointed as Israel’s fourth prime minister. Former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion used to call Meir “the best man in the government”; she was often portrayed as the “strong-willed, straight-talking, grey-bunned grandmother of the Jewish people”.