Angela Merkel Becomes the First Woman Named TIME's Person of the Year in Nearly Three Decades

Merkel, who currently serves as Chancellor of Germany, is the first woman to hold that position.

Image via @TIME

TIME just namedAngela Merkel, current Chancellor of Germany, its Person of the Year for 2015. In doing so, Merkel becomes not only the first woman to receive the honor in nearly three decades, but also just the fourth female Person of the Year in the magazine's history. Merkel, who is also the first woman to ever hold the offices of German Chancellor and leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), was also dubbed the second most powerful person in the world by Forbes earlier this year after already receiving the exact same distinction just three years earlier.

"Germany has spent the past 70 years testing antidotes to its toxically nationalist, militarist, genocidal past," TIME editor Nancy Gibbs says of the magazine's decision to put Merkel on their Colin Davidson-crafted 2015 cover. "Merkel brandished a different set of values—humanity, generosity, tolerance—to demonstrate how Germany’s great strength could be used to save, rather than destroy. It is rare to see a leader in the process of shedding an old and haunting national identity."

Merkel (thankfully) beat out a list of other potential cover stars including Vladimir Putin, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, and some nobody reportedly named "Donald Trump." In fact, Merkel's merciful stance on the acceptance of fleeing refugees marks a stark and victorious contrast to the oft-repeated sentiments of unnamed others. Germany currently has 964,574 new asylum-seekers that have registered in the first 11 months of this year, according to Mashable. That number is expected to top a million by the end of 2015.

Peep the full history of Person of the Year honorees, including nowhere near enough women, below:

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