CURRENT WOMAN LEADERS
Last Update 22-07-12
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06.02.1952- Queen Elizabeth II of United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland, Her other Realms and Territories,
Defender of the Faith and Head of the Commonwealth
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The following
external territories are part of the kingdom: Anguilla, Bermuda, British
Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland
Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn
Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and the
South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands.
She is also Sovereign of the Channel Islands
and Lord of the Isle of Man. Furthermore she is Queen of Canada,
Australia, New Zealand (1952), Jamaica (1962), Barbados, (1966), Bahamas
(1973), Grenada (1974), Tuvalu (1978), the Solomon Islands (1978), Papua
New Guinea (1975), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (1979), Saint Lucia
(1979), Antigua and Barbuda (1981), Belize (1981) and Saint Christopher and
Nevis (1983). Queen Elizabeth used to be Head of State in most of the
countries in the Commonwealth. She is the mother of three sons and a daughter.
Married to Phillip Mountbatten, former Prince of Greece and Denmark.
(b. 1926-).
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14.01.1972- Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
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Supreme
Commander of the Defence Forces and Head of the Evangelian-Lutheran
Church. The
Rigsfælleskab - or
Commonwealth of
the Realm - includes the external territories of The Faeroe Islands and Greenland.
Married to Count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, Prince Henrik. Margrethe II
is the mother of two sons. (b. 1940-)
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30.04.1980- Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
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Queen Beatrix
is also Princess van Oranje-Nassau, Princess van Lippe-Biesterfeld etc, etc, etc. The Kingdom of The Netherlands includes the
external territories Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. She succeeded her mother. Married to Claus von
Amsberg (1926-2002) and mother of three sons. (b. 1938-).
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17.09.1997- Governor
General Hon. Dr. Dame C.
Pearlette Louisy, St. Lucia
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Teacher,
administrator, Vice-Principal and then Principal of St. Lucia's College.
(b. 1946-)
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22.11.2005- Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany
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1990 Deputy Spokesperson of the Government of the
DDR, 1990-98 Deputy Chairperson of CDU, 1991-94 Federal Minister Women and
Youth and 1994-98 Federal Minister of Environment, Protection of Nature and
Reactor Safety, 1993-2000 Chairperson of CDU in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 1998-2000
Federal Secretary General and since 2000 Federal Chairperson of CDU and
2002-05 also Parliamentary Leader, Chairperson of
the European Council and President of the Group of Eight, G-8 in 2007. Née Kasner
and married
secondly to Joachim Sauer, no children. (b. 1954-).
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16.01.2006- Executive President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia
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1972-73 and 1977-79 Secretary of State of Finance, 1979-80 Minister
of Finance, 1980 President of the National Bank, 1980-85 worked for the
World Bank, 1985-86 in house arrest after her return, 1990-92 Leading
member of exile-government of Amos Sawyer in United States of America,
1992-97 African Director of the UNDP (United Nations Development Program).
From 1997 Leader of the Unity Party. Presidential Candidate in 1997,
Candidate for the Chairmanship of the National Transitional Government in
2003 and finally won the presidential elections in November 2005. She is
divorced, mother of a number of children, and grandmother. (b. 1938-).
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17.07.2007- Governor-General
Dame
Louise Lake-Tack, Antigua and Barbuda
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A
former nurse and magistrate from 1995. (b. 1944-).
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25.07.2007- President Pratibha Patil, India
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Member of the Government of
Maharashtra 1967-78 and 1982-85 as Deputy Minister, Public Health,
Prohibition, Tourism, Housing and Parliamentary Affairs 1967-72, Minister
of Social Welfare 1972-74, Minister of Public Health and Social Welfare
1974-75, Minister of Prohibition, Rehabilitation and Cultural Affairs
1975-76, Minister of Education 1977-78, Minister of Urban Development and
Housing 1982-83 and Minister of Civil Supplies and Social Welfare 1983-85,
Congress Leader and Leader of the Opposition 1979-80. Deputy
Chairperson of the Union Upper House, the Rajya Sabha 1986-88 and Acting
Chairperson in 1987, when the incumbent was elected President,
Governor of Rajasthan 2004-07. Married to Devisingh Shekhawat, a former
Mayor of Amravati. (b. 1934-).
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10.12.2007- Executive President Cristina
Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina
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Won the first round of the presidential
elections in October 2007 as candidate for Partido Justicalista. She was
Member of the Assembly of Santa Cruz 1989-95 and 1. Vice-President of the
Assembly in 1990, National Senator 1995-97 and again since 2001, National
Deputy 1997-2001. President of the Senate Committee of Contitutional
Affairs since 2001. Her late husband Néstor Carlos Kirchner (1950-2010) was
President of Argentina 2003-07 and held a number of other posts.
Mother of 2 children. (b. 1953-).
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03.12.2008- Head of Government Antonella Mularoni, San
Marino
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As Secretary of Foreign and
Political Affairs she also functions as Leader of the Government even
though the Captain Generals are both Heads of State and Government. She was
Political Secretary to the Minister of Finance 1986-87, Director of the
Office for relations with the associations of San Marino citizens living
abroad 1987-90, Deputy Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe,
1989-90, Barrister and public notary in the Republic of San Marino
1991-2001, Member of the General Grand Council 1993-2001 and again from
2008, and Judge of the European Court of Human Rights 2001-08. (b. 1961-).
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06.01.2009- Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, Bangladesh
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Also Prime Minister 1996-2001. Her
father, Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1920-72-75),
and most
of her family was killed during a military coup in 1975 when she and her
sister were abroard. Returned to Bangladesh
in 1981, President of the Awami Leauge from 1981, Opposition Leader 1986-87
and 1991-96 and 2001-06. In 1983, she formed the 15-party alliance to
launch a movement to oust General Ershad from power and was in and out of
prison throughout the 1980s and was under house arrest a few times. Her
party, along with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Begum
Khaleda Zia, was instrumental in the movement against the military rule.
2007 she was arrested on corruption and murder charges, but was allowed to
go to USA
for medical treatment in 2007 though the military supported care-taker
government tried to pressure her into exile. Returned in November 2008 to
lead her party in the election campaign, which her party won
overwealmingly. Married to the nuclear scientist Dr M. A. Wazed Miah and
mother a son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and a daughter, Saima Wazed Putul, who both
lives in the USA. (b. 1947- ).
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01.02.2009- Prime Minister Jóhanna
Sigurðardóttir, Iceland
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Johanna
Sigurdardsottir was Deputy Chairperson of the Social Democrats 1984-93,
Chairperson 1994-99 of the National Revival Party until she rejoined the
Social Democrats and became it's leader in 2009, Vice-President of the
Lower Chamber 1979 and 1983-84 and Vice-Chairperson of the the Alþing
2003-07, Minister
of Social Affairs And Health 1987-91 and Minister of Social Affairs 1991-94
and 2007-09. Took over as Interim Premier because the Party Chairperson,
Foreign Minister Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, was beeing treated for
a brain tumor, and later also resigned as Party Leader. First married to Þorvaldur Steinar
Jóhannesson with whom she has got sons, and is now married to the author Jónína Leósdóttir, who is mother of 1 son. (b. 1942-)
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05.09.2008-
Governor-General Dr Quentin Bryce, Australia
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Former
lawyer, academic and human rights advocate, Federal Sex Discrimination
Commissioner, founding chair and Chief Executive Officer of the National
Childcare Accreditation Council and Governor of Queensland 2003-08.
(b. 1942-)
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26.05.2010- Prime
Minister Kamla
Persad-Bissessar, Trinidad
and Tobago
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Attorney General (second in Cabinet) 1995-06 and
2001, Minister of Legal Affairs 1996-99 and 2001 and Minister of Education
1999-2001. First
appointed acting premier on the absence of the Premier in September 2000.
Leader of The United National Congesss and Oppostion Leader 2006-07 and
2010 and Political Leader from 2010. (b. 1952-)
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24.06.2010- Prime
Minister Julia
Gillard, Australia
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MP from 1998, Manager of Opposition Business in the
House of Representatives 2003-06 and Deputy
Leader of Labor 2006-10, Deputy Leader of the Opposition 2006-07 and Leader
of Labour from 2010, Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and
Social Inclusion from 2007-10. Her parents immigrated to Australia from Wales. She lives with her partner and has no children. (b.
1961-).
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10.10.2010- Prime
Minister Sarah Wescott-Williams, Sint Maarten (Self-governing Part of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands)
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Ca.
1995-2009 Commissioner of General Affairs, Education etc.
1999-2009
Leader of the Government, Social and Cultural Development, Finance,
Juridical Affairs, Emergency Services, Information, Communication and
Protocol, Strategic Policy, Planning and Development of Sint Maarten which
was part of the Netherlands Antilles from 2010 when it became a self ruling
entity within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. She is Leader of the St.
Maarten Party.
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29.10.2010-
Premier Paula A. Cox, Bermuda (British
Dependent Territory)
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Succeeded
her father, Eugene Cox as Minister of Finance when he died in January 2004.
1998-2002 Minister of Labour and Home Affairs and Public Security, 2002-04
Minister of Education, 2002-03 Minister of Development, 2003-04 Attorney
General and Minister of Justice. Minister of Finance since 2004, Deputy
Leader of the Progressive Labour Party and Deputy Premier 2006-10, Party
Leader and Premier from 2010. (b. 1969-).
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01.01.2011-
President Dilma Vana Linhares Rousseff, Brazil
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Dilma Rousseff
is a former
student leader who fought Brazil's
military dictatorship as a guerrilla during the early 1970s and an economist. Secretary
of Mines, Energy and Communication of Rio Grande do Sul 1993-94 and
1999-2002, Minister of Mines and Energy 2003-05 and Minister and Secretary General of the Presidential
Staff (Cabinet Chief) 2005-10. (b. 1947-).
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07.04.2011-
President Atifete Jahjaga, Kosovo
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She was Deputy Chief of Police
of Kosovo with rank of Major General at the time of her election. Married
to Astrit Kuçi. (b. 1975-)
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08.08.2011-
Prime Minister Yingluck
Shinawatra, Thailand
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A former buisness woman and main candidate for
the Pheu Thai Party which won about 50% of the votes in the parliamentary
elections. A member of a walthy family, her father, uncle and other family
members were MPs her brother and brother-in-law were Prime Ministers and
her sister Mayor of Chiang Mai. She is married to businessman Anusorn
Amornchat and mother of a son. (b. 1967-).
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03.10.2011- Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Denmark
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Social Democrat Member of the European Parliament
1999-2004 and Member of the Parliament, Party Chairperson from 2005 and
Chairperson of the European Council, the rotating presidency of the
European Union. Married to Stephen Kinnock and mother of two daughters. (b.
1966-)
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22.11.2011- Premier
Camilla Gunell, the Åland Islands (Finish
External Territory)
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Member of the
Lagting since 2003, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Group of the Social
Democrats 2003-05 and Party Chairperson from 2009 and Minister of Education
and Culture 2005-2007. (b. 1970-). |
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01.01.2012 President Eveline Widmer-Sclumpf,
Switzerland
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Councillor
of Finance and Military of Graubünden 1998-2007, Vice-President of the
Government 2000 and 2004 and President of the Government 2001
and 2005, Federal Councillor of Justice and Police 2008-10 and
Councillor of Finance from 2010 and Vice-President in 2011. (b. 1956-).
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05.01.2012- Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller, Jamaica
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Also Prime
Minister 2006-07. Since 1976 MP, 1976-82 Parliamentary Secretary of the
Prime Minister, Deputy President of People's National Party 1978-2006 and
President from 2006. Minister of Labour, Social Welfare and Sports
1989-2000, Candidate for the party leadership and Premiership in 1992,
Minister of Tourism, Entertainment, Sports and Women’s Affairs 2000-02 and
Minister of Local Government, Community Development and Sport 2002-06.
Acting Prime Minister on various occasions whenever the chief of government
was out of the country. 2006-2007 and from 2012 also Minister of Defence
and a number of other portfolios. Opposition Leader 2007-11. (b. 1946-).
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07.04.2012-
President Joyce Banda, Malwai
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2004-06 Minister
of Women, Child Welfare and Community Service, 2006-09 Minister of Foreign
Affairs, 2009-12 Vice-President, Founder and leader of the People's Party
in 2011 after she fell out with the President who did not include her in
the Cabinet, though she remains Vice-President according to the constitution and as such she took over as head of state after the
death of her predecessor. (b. 1950-)
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15.07.2012-
Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (South
Africa)
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1994-99 Minister of Health, 1999-2009 Minister of Foreign
Affairs and 2009-12 of Home Affairs. She was offered the post of Deputy
President in 2005 after her ex-husband, Jacob Zuma was fired after
corruption charges, and was candidate for the post of Deputy President of
ANC in 2007 (b. 1949-).
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