Ursula von der Leyen

President of the European Commission since 2019

  • Fame75.5
  • Momentum15.0
  • Germany rank#79
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Source-basedRising
  • Fame75.5
  • Momentum15.0
  • Germany rank#79
  • Wikipedia155.9K
Born 1958 · age 68Germany

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  • Wikipedia
    99 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Rank in Germany
    #79
    Politicians
  • Age
    68
    Born 1958
  • Known for
    Facing War
    2025
Summary
Updated 2026-09-01

She runs the European Commission — the executive arm of the EU's 27-nation bloc — and has held the job since 2019. A physician by training, she spent 14 years in Angela Merkel's cabinet before Brussels, and Forbes has called her the most powerful woman in the world four years running.

Biography

About

Born in Brussels in 1958 to a father who was among the first European civil servants, she grew up bilingual and moved to Germany at 13 when her father entered politics. She studied at the London School of Economics, earned her medical licence in 1987, and spent four years in the U.S. in the 1990s with her husband and children. By the late 1990s she'd entered local politics in Hanover, rising to Lower Saxony's state cabinet in 2003. In 2005 she joined Merkel's federal government — Family Affairs, then Labour, then Defence in 2013, the first woman to hold that post — and became a fixture in NATO…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Ursula von der Leyen

Ursula von der Leyen
said
It is the moment to show them that we can build a continent where you can be who you are, love who you want, and aim as high as you want.
State of the European Union: Five takeaways from Ursula von der Leyen's speech euro news (September 13, 2023).
Ursula von der Leyen
said
Hospitals are postponing treatment because of lack of nurses. And two-thirds of European companies are looking for IT specialists.
State of the European Union: Five takeaways from Ursula von der Leyen's speech euro news (September 13, 2023).
Ursula von der Leyen
said
Putin wanted to wipe Ukraine from the map. He will clearly not succeed. On the contrary: Ukraine has risen up in unity. And it is his own country, Russia, he is sinking.
Speech on the social and economic consequences for the EU of the Russian war in Ukraine (4 May 2022)
Ursula von der Leyen
said
I was yesterday in Kyiv and I visited Bucha. And there are no words for the horror I have seen in Bucha, the ugly face of Putin's army terrorising people.
"Opening, interventions and closing remarks by President von der Leyen at the global pledging event ‘Stand Up For Ukraine'" (9 April 2022)
Ursula von der Leyen
said
I am well aware that these sanctions (imposed on Russia for their invasion on Ukraine) will come at a cost for our economy, too.
Ursula von der Leyen (2022) cited in: "Speech by President von der Leyen at the European Parliament Plenary on the Russian aggression
By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Rising
75.5
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum15.0
Historical29.6
Now attention68.5
Source confidence75.0
Completeness85.0
Global rank
Country rank
#79
Category rank
Receipts

Sources

  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence