Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
24th president of Liberia · Liberia · Politicians · Born 1938 · age 87
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is read about 563 times a day, in 112 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 23 October 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 398 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?She broke the glass ceiling on an entire continent: the first woman elected president in Africa, steering Liberia out of civil war's wreckage with a Harvard degree in one hand and a Nobel Prize in the other.
A life in dates
Also in Deutsch
Photos 8
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In their own words 10
, To girls and women everywhere, I issue a simple invitation. My sisters, my daughters, my friends; find your voice.
Once the glass ceiling has been broken, it can never be put back together, however one would try to do that.
I believe that there are certain attributes in a woman that give her some advantages over a man.
Awards
About this person
Born in Monrovia in 1938, Sirleaf studied economics at Harvard before returning to serve in William Tolbert's government as Deputy Minister of Finance in 1973, then Minister of Finance in 1979. When Samuel Doe executed Tolbert in a 1980 coup, she fled to the United States and worked for Citibank. She returned in 1985 to run for senate, was arrested for criticizing the military government, and was sentenced to ten years before her release. She finished second to Charles Taylor in the 1997 presidential election. In 2005 she won the presidency, took office in January 2006, and served two terms through 2018. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for bringing women into peacekeeping, and in 2016 became the first woman to chair the Economic Community of West African States.
In common with Ellen
Nelson MandelaBoth received Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership
Hifikepunye PohambaBoth received Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership
Joaquim ChissanoBoth received Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership
Festus MogaeBoth received Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African LeadershipPoliticians from Liberia 2
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