The most powerful woman in the world

A biographer reveals the mysterious side of Angela Merkel

Merkel is a strong woman who has led her country wisely for 16 years.

about the source

The outgoing German chancellor, Angela Merkel, routinely refuses to be interviewed to speak for herself.

It seems that Merkel kept no daily records of her movements and practices, nor did she leave any trace of heartfelt messages.

And she refuses to reveal her personal matters, which prompted many of her relatives not to cooperate with the press to talk about her.

Her two brothers never talked about her affairs.

Her ex-husband issued one public statement defending her controversial 2015 decision to accept the influx of refugees.

Merkel is an enigmatic figure even after she has been in power for so long, including four years in which she emerged as the unofficial leader of the West against rising right-wing forces in the United States and elsewhere.

Fortunately, the writer, Katie Marton, has been able to harness the origins of a great personality to understand Merkel, and recorded this in her book "Chancellor: Angela Merkel's Wonderful Odyssey," and this book comes as the chancellor prepares to leave office after spending 16 years, which A record that only the former chancellor, Helmut Kohl, rivaled during the last century.

character make up

Merkel's character was shaped by strange and mysterious childhood contradictions, her reclusive father a Lutheran pastor choosing to move his family to East Germany from the West, at a time when many East Germans were desperate for their country and want to go in the opposite direction.

Her caution and desire for silence, and her keen awareness of the use and abuse of power, reflect the lessons of a priest's daughter from atheist East Germany, which was a Soviet-controlled police state.

Merkel has learned to listen more than talk, to be a "cautious realist" rather than a "disaffected idealist", and to let others take credit for her for accommodating herself by being tough when the need arises.

She was an improbably politic - an East German woman and research scientist, and someone who is constitutionally incapable of giving an inspiring speech.

Her rise to power, and her hold on to power, no one believed to be successful.

Nevertheless, she succeeded.

Epic

This biography chronicles Merkel's "magnificent saga", as she weaved her career into the context of European politics at the time.

The personal side of that journey has been interwoven with thousands of threads of detail that the writer has revealed.

But even in an age when social media has afforded international leaders the ability to scrutinize every moment and every move, the all-too-private Merkel has managed to keep part of her persona out of sight.

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