A woman in power in the modern world no onewill surprise. But it is worth turning your eyes to the pages of history, and we will see that, in times far from our days, the fair sex stood at the head of the state and quite successfully coped with it. What is the name of the Queen of Sheba, Cleopatra, Maria de Medici or Catherine the Great ...
All the more surprising is the fact that the current democratically-minded society is skeptical of the representative of the power of the female sex.
This article will tell the reader in which countries the president is a woman and interesting facts about these ladies.
Today in world historyit has been recorded that women presidents have entered this position thirty-five times. Immediately it is worth making a reservation that this number does not include prime ministers, captains-regents, government ministers, governors-general, whose posts in different countries are equal to the head of state.
Of these, there are currently twelve women acting presidents. Accordingly, twenty-three representatives no longer occupy this post.
The first female president was elected far awayfrom us to Argentina in 1974. She was Isabel Martinez de Peron. However, it was not a public choice. Isabel held the position of vice president with her husband, Juan Perone. Accordingly, after his death, she automatically became the head of the country. However, she had the outstanding support of representatives of many parties, trade unions, as well as the regular army. Isabel was removed from her post as a result of a coup.
The first woman president in her country and the secondin the world is Vigdís Finnbogadottir. She became the head of Iceland and held this post for four terms, she refused the fifth one herself. Her policies differed dramatically from previous ones, since most of her time Vigdís devoted to the development of a national language and a unique Icelandic culture.
Women presidents do not always start their careers with political activities. For example, the head of Malta, Agatha Barbara (1982-1987), was originally a simple school teacher.
Corazon Aquino - President of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992year - not at all going to engage in politics. She was a housewife, raised five children. But circumstances forced her to intervene in government affairs. Her husband, a prominent politician, was an opposition member of the current authorities. He was arrested and expelled from the country, and when he tried to return, he was killed. After these tragic events, Corazon was supported in her desire and attempts to take the office of president. She successfully ruled the country, despite numerous coup attempts (seven times in two years!).
Guyana also had its first female president.The USA was its homeland, Jewish blood flowed in its veins, and the ideas of Marxism were in my head. Her name was Janet Jagan. She took office after the death of the head of state, her spouse Cheddi Jagan. It is noteworthy that before that he was a dentist, and she was a nurse.
World President Women Often Not ImmediatelyBegan to go through political. Sometimes they were prompted by a parental example (Megawati Sukarnoputri, Indonesia), sometimes by journalistic activities (Ruth Dreyfus, Switzerland), but someone consciously went to this, fighting for their rights (Tarja Halonen, Finland).
Helen Johnson-Sirleaf is headstates since 2005. She became the first representative of the weaker sex at such a high post among the heads of African countries. True, a weak man would call her weak. Helen is known to the public as a strong-willed and determined leader.
Helen graduated from Harvard, and then returned toLiberia began working as an assistant finance minister. In 1980, she herself took this post. This period became quite difficult for her career, since the woman was accused of state embezzlement and expelled from the country, where she could return only in 1997.
In the 1997 election, Helen is a presidential candidate.The woman was able to gain only 10% of the vote. This defeat did not shake her faith in herself, and she made another attempt in 2005. Most voters decided that Johnson-Sirleaf is the country's new president.
The only female president in her storythe country is Michelle Bachelet. Today is the second term of her tenure as head of state. As for the first time (in 2006), she was elected by an absolute majority.
Michelle's family is very affected by dictatorshipPinochet. Her father was imprisoned because he, true to his military duty, remained on the side of the legitimate ruler. In conclusion, he died. Michelle and her mother were also arrested and tortured terribly as traitors. Only by a miracle did they manage to free themselves and leave the country. For some time they lived in Australia and the GDR.
In 1979, Bachelet returned home, received a medical degree from the University of Chile and worked for a long time in a children's hospital.
Her political career began in 1990,when she was consulting at the World Health Organization. Four years later she received a position in the ministry. In 2000 she became Minister of Health, and in 2002 (in addition) - Minister of Defense, which is quite unusual for a woman.
During her first presidential term, the priorities were: pension reform and social guarantees for low-income families.
Entering the second term, Michel to the foreput forward educational reform, promising to make tuition free. Also one of the most important issues the government has been working on since 2014 is the fight against inequality.
Bachelet is not married. She has three children.
Argentina's female president is Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. She has been in this post since 2007.
Christina's ancestors were immigrants from Spain andVolga Germans. She was born in La Plata in 1953. I became interested in politics while studying at the university, or rather, after meeting my future husband Nestor, who was involved in the radical left movement.
She graduated from law school, after which the couple (married in 1975) left for Santa Cruz, where they opened a law office.
Christina began a political career during her husband's election campaign in the late 1980s. He became the governor of the province, and she became a member of the legislative assembly.
Actively supporting spouse on presidentialthe election, Christine herself understood that she was attracting much more public attention. Therefore, when the husband’s term ended and he refused to run again, Christine nominated his candidacy.
In domestic policy, Christina made several significant laws, for example, a ban on smoking in public places, legalizing same-sex marriages, nationalizing private pension funds, and so on.
Foreign policy was aimed at stabilizingrelations with other countries. However, with some, the Argentine woman-president failed to find understanding. The United States and the United Kingdom are not always friendly towards the Latin American leader. The conflict with the first state occurred in 2007 (the case of businessman Antonini Wilson), and the second - in 2010, when the two countries could not find a solution on the issue of oil production by the British off the coast of Argentina (more precisely, the controversial Falkland Islands).
Argentine President Cristina Fernandezdiffers from his colleagues not only in the way of thinking, but also in his style. She is consistently high heels and in gorgeous dresses. More than once she declared that shopping is her passion.
After the death of her husband in 2010, Christina made a vow to mourn and since then appears in public only in black attire.
Women presidents of third world countries were often persecuted for their advanced views. This fate did not pass and the head of Brazil Dilma Rousseff.
She got involved in politics after 1964, whenthere was a military coup. The girl was only seventeen years old. But here the genes made themselves felt, because Dilma's father, Peter, was also involved in politics at home (in Bulgaria), but was forced to flee from there because of the threat to life.
For several years, Dilma was in the underground, supporting armed organizations against military dictatorship.
In 1970 she was detained and two yearswas under arrest. She had a lot to experience, even torture with electric shock. She came out of prison as a completely different person, moved away from terrible events, received an economist diploma, gave birth to a daughter from her husband (also supporting revolutionary forces).
Dilma became one of the founders of the Democraticlabor party. But in the late 1990s, she went to the party of workers, differing in more radical views. In 2003, she became Energy Secretary under President da Silva, and in 2005 she headed his administration.
Five years later, Dilma nominated her candidacy for the post of head of the country. In the election campaign, she promised to solve many problems, including:
Women presidents are sometimes vulnerable toface danger. But Korea’s leader Park Geun-hye is probably ready for anything. She had to endure the tragic death of her parents. Her father, Pak Chong Hee, was president, and during one attempt on his life her mother was mortally wounded. After the death of his wife, the head of the republic entrusted the duties of the first lady to his eldest daughter. Therefore, Park Geun-hye initially knew what the world of politics was, what it would have to face.
Five years after her mother’s death, she lost her father, who was treacherously murdered in 1979.
For several years, starting in 1998, she ran for parliament and received parliamentary seats. But since 2004, engaged exclusively in party activities.
In 2011, she became the leader of the Senuri party, which a year later won the parliamentary elections. In the same year, Park Geun-hye won the presidential election.
Today, the Korean leader is sixty-three years old, and it can be said with confidence that politics has become a matter of her life. She has never been married, she has no children.
Almost a year (since February 2015) countryheaded by Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. No one would have thought that a woman president would grow out of a village girl. The United States has become a starting point for her, but first things first.
Kolinda was born in a tiny village inYugoslavia, from early childhood, she had to endure all the burden of rural life. Once she said that no one in NATO, except her, can milk cows. It must be true.
But despite the life of the girl, she had a veryinquiring mind She learned the Croatian language, but her main victory was getting the grandee to study in America. It was there that she mastered English perfectly.
Kolinda graduated from the Faculty of Political Science atZagreb and again went to the United States, becoming a fellow at the University of Washington. In addition, she managed to study at Harvard University. After that, Kolinda was invited to Johns Hopkins University as a research assistant.
She began her political career in 1992,when she became an adviser at the Foreign Ministry. Throughout the 1990s, she was engaged in ambassadorial activities, overseeing the North American direction. Was the deputy ambassador to Canada.
Since 2003, she has been a member of parliament and engaged inEuropean integration issues. Two years later, she became Minister of Foreign Affairs. Priorities for Kolinda became the country's entry into the EU and NATO.
Three years (since 2008) was the ambassador of Croatia to the USA.
In 2015, in the second round of elections, she won and became president of Croatia.
Kolinda has been married since 1996. In marriage, there are two children.
Dalia Grybauskaite was reelected in 2014 for the second term as President of Lithuania.
She was born in 1956 in Vilnius. According to her personal statements, parents were simple hard workers. But the press published declassified information that her father, Polykarpas, belonged to the NKVD.
After graduation she worked a littleto get at least some money. And then she went to Leningrad, where she entered the University. Zhdanov. She studied at the evening department, because during the day she worked at a fur factory as a laboratory assistant.
In 1983 she received a political economy diploma. In the same year she became a party member and returned to Vilnius. Led there lectures on the subject specialty in the higher party school of the city.
In 1988 in Moscow she defended her thesis and stayed to work at the Academy of Social Sciences.
Because Dahl was fluent in English,she was sent from Lithuania to the USA, where she had an internship at Georgetown University. For several years she worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then became the plenipotentiary representative of Lithuania to the USA.
After Lithuania joined the EU, Dalia held a post inThe European Commission, not fulfilling its duties in 2009 in connection with the election campaign. Voters decide that the head of state should be a woman president. Russia didn’t like it very much, the relations of the countries are now in a state of cooling.
Dahl is not married, has no children.
A woman president of America may not appear in the sky soon, but Angela Merkel's star has been shining since 2005. It was then that she became the head of her country.
Angela was born in 1954 in Hamburg. Her ancestors from both her mother and her father were Poles.
Studying in school, Angela did not stand out, washumble and quiet girl. But she made great progress in the study of mathematics and the Russian language. After graduation, she went to Leipzig to enroll in the physics department of the university.
In her student years, she participated in the activities of the Free German Youth Union, and also married Wilhelich Merkel, also a physics student.
After graduation, the couple left for Berlin,where their paths diverged. Angela began working at the Academy of Sciences, and later defended her thesis. In the service she met her current spouse - Joachim Sauer.
Merkel’s political career began afterthe fall of the Berlin Wall and its entry into the party called the Democratic Breakthrough. In the early 1990s, Angela changed her mind and joined the Christian Democratic Union. She had difficulty moving up the career ladder, since she was the only one from East Germany. But on her side was Helmut Kohl, the leader of the party. In 1993, she heads the CDU on one of the lands of the Federal Republic of Germany.
After a year in the elections to the Bundestag, Angel receives the position of Minister of the Environment. In 1998 she became secretary general of the CDU.
Due to a financial scandal in 2000, Schäuble (and before that Kohl) quit the post of leader of the CDU. By a majority of votes, it was decided that Merkel would stand at the helm of the party.
The 2002 election was won by Gerhard Schröder, who, unlike Merkel, did not support Bush’s policies in Iraq.
However, gradually the Social Democratic Party,standing at the helm of power, lost confidence. It was decided to call early elections for 2005. The SPD and the CDU got almost the same number of votes (1% difference). Five weeks between the parties, negotiations were conducted, as a result of which coalition agreements were reached, and Angela Merkel was recognized as the head of state.
Merkel is known for her pro-American position,and even the scandal with the wiretapping of the CIA of her phones did not change the situation. With regard to domestic policy, then, according to experts, it is characterized by duality and great intentions that are constantly in limbo.
Female President of Belarus - the character is literallyfrom a science fiction film, but in Switzerland such an outcome of the election of the head of state is not uncommon. The current president, Simonetta of Samorogga, is the fifth woman in this post (in modern history).
After graduation, she wanted to seriously study music, was an excellent pianist. Simonetta studied in the USA and Italy. Then she studied English language and literature at the university.
She was prompted to work in the Consumer Protection Fund. Since 1981, she represented the Social Democrats.
Simonetta was a member of the National Council and the Council of Cantons. In 2010, she headed the Department of Justice and Police. And at the end of 2014 she was elected to the post of president of the country.
Simonetta is the wife of the writer - Lukas Hartman.
