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The world's most powerful woman earned her Ph.D. in quantum physics, presides over the richest economy in Europe, and was the central broker in a massive euro-bailout deal.
In short, when the chips are down, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel is the undisputed leader Europeans turn to.
In honor of the Bundeskanzlerin birthday, here's the story of Merkel's rise from humble beginnings under an oppressive East German regime to the top spot as Germany's leader.
Angela Kasner was born in Hamburg, West Germany, on July 17, 1954.
Angela Dorothea Kasner was born to Herlind Kasner, an English and Latin teacher, and Horst Kasner, a theologian and Lutheran minister.
A few weeks after she was born, her father moved the family to Templin, in East Germany, about an hour from Berlin.
Merkel's childhood was shaped by the Stasi, or secret police. The Stasi made people paranoid. Merkel learned early on to keep her cards close to her chest.
Source: The Making of Merkel, BBC
A perfectionist by nature, she excelled in her studies.
She excelled in academics, especially math, science, and languages.
In her teenage years, her parents encouraged her to join the Communist youth organization, the Freie Deutsche Jugend, or Free German Youth, to develop skills for a career in politics.
After flunking a physics course in high school, she decided to pursue a degree from the University of Leipzig in physics to prove her mastery of the subject.
Source: The Making of Merkel, BBC
She became a physicist.
Popular among her peers, she caught the eye of fellow physics student Ulrich Merkel, whom she met during a Russian exchange trip.
She married him in 1977 and graduated the following year with a degree in physics and physical chemistry.
She continued her academic career and went on to study at the elite German Academy of Sciences, in Berlin, and earned a Ph.D. in quantum chemistry, in 1986.
Source: The Making of Merkel, BBC
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