Politics has always been a predominantly male sphere of activity. However, the number of women who has an impressive political influence increases every year. Here are 10 the brightest and most influential women in the world political arena, who changed the lives not only of their countries but the whole world.
1. Benazir Bhutto
The first Muslim woman who managed to take over the post of the Prime Minister of Pakistan twice. She was famous for her leadership, concern for people, as well as her sophistication. The year following her murder in 2007, she was named one of the seven winners of the UN Human Rights Prize.
2. Park Geun-hye
She is the first woman in South Korean politics who has become a president. She is also the first female head of state in the recent history of Northeast Asia. Park is considered one of the most influential politicians and the most influential figures in the history of South Korea.
3. Isabelle Martinez de Peron
She is the former President of Argentina. This woman became the first female head of state and head of government in the Western Hemisphere. However, she was famous not only for her political deeds but also her controversial life.
4. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
She is Liberian President and one of the founders of Liberia’s national patriotic front who is also known as the first female head of state in Africa to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. And on September 12, 2013, President of India Pranab Mukherjee presented her with the coveted Indira Gandhi Prize.
5. Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel is a German politician and former scholar who has been Chancellor of Germany since 2005 and the leader of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000. She is the first woman to hold any of these posts. According to Forbes magazine, in 2012 she was second among the most influential people in the world with the highest rating ever achieved by a woman.
6. Sonia Gandhi
As president of the Indian National Congress, Sonia Gandhi leads the ruling political party. The widow of the former Prime Minister of India has a huge impact on people. And it is not surprising that in 2013, Forbes included her among the 21 most influential people, where she took the ninth place in the world among the most influential women.
7. Yingluck Shinawatra
She is a member of the politician parties who became the Prime Minister of Thailand. She is the first female Thai Prime Minister, and when she was in her 40s, she became the youngest Thai Prime Minister during the last sixty years.
8. Johanna Sigurdardottir
Johanna Sigurdardottir is the former Prime Minister of Iceland, who also served as Minister of Social Affairs and Security. Besides, she was the first woman in the world who being open lesbian became the government leader. And in 2009, Forbes included her in the list of the hundred most influential women in the world.
9. Dilma Rousseff
She is the former 36th President of Brazil and the first woman to hold this position. Dilma became a socialist in her youth and joined various leftist and Marxist urban guerrilla groups that fought against military dictatorship. In the end, she was captured and imprisoned between 1970 and 1972. But even this did not stop her from being on the list of the most influential women in the world.
10. Golda Meir
She was elected Prime Minister of Israel after serving as Minister of Labor and Minister of Foreign Affairs. The first woman in Israel and the third woman in the world to have been described as the Iron Lady of Israeli politics years before the epithet was associated with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
