Nope, not Caitlyn Jenner — or Donald Trump! German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been named Time magazine’s 2015 Person of the Year.
Deemed by the mag to be the “world’s most powerful woman,” the 61-year-old politician is the first woman in 29 years to land the coveted title.
“Merkel had already emerged as the indispensable player in managing Europe’s serial debt crises; she also led the West’s response to Vladimir Putin’s creeping theft of Ukraine. But now the prospect of Greek bankruptcy threatened the very existence of the euro zone,” Time‘s managing editor, Nancy Gibbs, wrote. “The migrant and refugee crisis challenged the principle of open borders. And finally, the carnage in Paris revived the reflex to slam doors, build walls and trust no one.”
She continued: “At a moment when much of the world is once more engaged in a furious debate about the balance between safety and freedom, the Chancellor is asking a great deal of the German people, and by their example, the rest of us as well. To be welcoming. To be unafraid. To believe that great civilizations build bridges, not walls, and that wars are won both on and off the battlefield.”
Others who made Time‘s short list this year include Jenner, ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, Trump, the Black Lives Matters activists, and Iran president Hassan Rouhani. Jenner, for her part, opened up to the mag about her historic journey this year following her gender transition.
“Over the last couple of months, I got to the point where I’m very comfortable with myself and where I’m at, but what does all this mean?” the Olympian, 66, shared. “It’s more than makeup and clothes and all that other stuff. And what is that? I’m working on that. There’s still a lot to learn about being a woman.”
