Around the world today, 16 women are heads of state, working to promote peace, reconciliation and social and economic development. While that number has more than doubled since 2000, these women still represent fewer than 10% of the 193 UN member states.
Though their struggles towards political leadership are all too similar, their stories are vastly different.
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Here are five interesting facts you may or may not have known about some of the world’s most powerful and influential women.
Once Upon A Time, Angela Merkel Was a Squatter
You read that right. In 1988, the current de facto leader of mainland Europe lived illegally as a squatter in a crummy apartment building near the Friedrichstrasse train station while attending Berlin's Institute for Physical Chemistry. On an alleged visit from her father on her 30th birthday, he reportedly told Germany’s current Chancellor: “You haven’t gotten very far.”
The Words and Songs of Bob Marley Have Largely Influenced Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister
“Reggae is universal music up to today,” the country’s first female Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, once said. “Bob Marley has had a tremendous influence on my life.”
A devout Hindu and baptised Baptist, in 2007 the Prime Minister even went as far to give one of her most famous speeches to the theme of Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry.”
Under Military Dictatorship, Chile’s First Female President Was Imprisoned and Tortured
Read More: Number of Female Leaders Around the World Remains Stagnant, UN Finds
Shortly after her father’s arrest in 1975, Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria was imprisoned at the notorious Villa Grimaldi interrogation center in the capital Santiago. Bachelet’s father was an air force general under Marxist president, Salvador Allende, before dictator Augusto Pinochet’s Marxist overthrew his government. For a month she was tortured both physically and psychologically, threatened with execution before she was sent into exile. Because she was never tortured with electricity, Bachelet said in 2004 that the torture “was nothing in comparison to what others suffered.”
From Biologist to Banker, Estonia’s President Wore Many Hats Before Entering Office
A trained biologist specializing in genetics, a former power plant manager and investment banker, Kaljulaid played many roles before becoming the first female head of state of Estonia, as well as the country’s youngest president at 46.
Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Was Once the Target of An Assassination Attempt
Read More: These 7 Heroic Women Leaders Are Breaking Gender Barriers in Government Around the World
Coming from a traditionally patriarchal society, Sheikh Hasina Wazed faced extreme fear tactics, including an assassination attempt in 2004 and murder charges in 2007 before becoming prime minister in 2009. Today, she ranks number 36 of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women in 2016.