Ursula von der Leyen: Biography and Key Facts

Ursula von der Leyen: Key Facts

• Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen, born Ursula Gertrud Albrecht on October 8, 1958, is a German politician.
• She is the 13th and current President of the European Commission, in office since December 1, 2019.
• She served in the German federal government from 2005 to 2019 under Angela Merkel, including as Minister of Defence.
• She is a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the European People's Party (EPP).
• The EPP elected von der Leyen as its Spitzenkandidat for the 2024 European Parliament elections on March 7, 2024.
• She was re-elected to head the Commission in July 2024.

Early Life and Education

• Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, to German parents; her father, Ernst Albrecht, was an early European civil servant.
• She grew up bilingual in German and French and relocated to Germany in 1971.
• In 1978, she graduated from the London School of Economics.
• She obtained her medical license from Hanover Medical School in 1987.
• She lived in the United States in the 1990s with her family before entering local politics in the Hanover region.

Early Political Career

• 2003-2005: Served as a cabinet minister in Lower Saxony's state government.
• 2005: Joined the federal cabinet as Minister for Family Affairs and Youth.
• 2009: Became Minister for Labour and Social Affairs.
• 2013: Appointed Minister of Defence, the first woman in German history to hold this position.
• 2010-2019: Served as a deputy leader of the CDU.

Minister of Defence (2013-2019)

• As Minister of Defence, she was the only minister who served continuously in Angela Merkel's cabinet.
• In December 2014, her fingerprint was cloned by a German hacker using commercially available software and photographs.
• In August 2016, she joined the World Economic Forum board of trustees.
• She faced domestic criticism for her leadership and gaps in military readiness.

President of the European Commission (2019-Present)

• Nominated by the European Council on July 2, 2019, and elected by the European Parliament on July 16, 2019.
• She is the first woman to hold the office.
• She announced her commission would work to establish an International Criminal Tribunal for the Russian Federation in November 2022.
• Forbes named her the most powerful woman in the world in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
• She was re-elected as President of the European Commission on July 18, 2024, with an absolute majority.

Family and Ancestry

• Known as "Röschen" since childhood, a diminutive of Rose.
• Her father, Ernst Albrecht, was a CEO and Minister President of Lower Saxony.
• Ancestors include doctors, jurists, and civil servants from Hanover and Bremen.
• Great-great-grandfather George Alexander Albrecht was a wealthy cotton merchant and Consul of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Bremen.
• American ancestry includes colonial governors and a slave trader, Joseph Wragg.
• She is the niece of conductor George Alexander Albrecht and cousin of Marc Albrecht.
• The Albrecht family is not related to the owners of the Aldi supermarket chain.

Personal Life

• She married physician Heiko von der Leyen in 1986; they have seven children.
• She is Lutheran.
• She is fluent in German, French, and English.
• She lives on a farm in Burgdorf near Hanover and is an equestrian.

Education and Early Career

• Fled to London in 1978 due to fears of being kidnapped by the Red Army Faction (RAF).
• She lived under the name "Rose Ladson" while in London and enrolled at the London School of Economics.
• Specialized in women's health after graduating from Hannover Medical School in 1987.
• From 1992 to 1996, she was a housewife in Stanford, California, while her husband worked at Stanford University.
• Taught at Hanover Medical School from 1998 to 2002 and earned a Master of Public Health degree in 2001.

Plagiarism Allegations

• In 2015, her 1991 doctoral dissertation was reviewed, and it was alleged that 43.5% of the thesis contained plagiarism.
• Hannover Medical School investigated and concluded there was plagiarism but no intention to deceive.
• The university decided not to revoke her medical degree.

Early Political Involvement

• Joined the CDU in 1990 and became active in local politics in Lower Saxony.
• Elected to the Parliament of Lower Saxony in 2003; served as a minister in the state government.

Minister of Family Affairs and Youth (2005-2009)

• Appointed Federal Minister of Family Affairs and Youth in Angela Merkel's cabinet in 2005.

Minister of Labour and Social Affairs (2009-2013)

• Elected to the Bundestag in 2009 and succeeded Franz Josef Jung as Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.
• She cultivated an image as the social conscience of the CDU and helped the party into the political center-ground.

International Crises

• Open to delaying troop withdrawal from Afghanistan beyond 2016 after the Taliban's seizure of Kunduz in 2015.
• She was instrumental in Germany's decision to resupply Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in 2014.
• Publicly defended Germany's refusal to supply weapons to Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference in 2015.

Armed Forces Reform

• Introduced a plan to make the Bundeswehr more appealing to recruits in June 2014.
• Announced an increase in defence spending in 2015 due to NATO-Russian tensions.
• She announced plans to spend €130 billion on new military equipment by 2030.
• She planned to increase the number of Bundeswehr professional soldiers to 198,000 by 2024.

European Army Efforts

• Since 2014, two of the three Royal Netherlands Army Brigades are under German Command.
• Proposed allowing non-German EU nationals to join the Bundeswehr, but this was met with opposition.

Military Procurement

• Pledged to address Germany's military equipment budget after a KPMG report revealed repeated failures.
• Publicly criticized Airbus for delays in delivering A400M military transport planes.

Arms Exports

• In May 2015, she expressed support for India's project to build German submarines.
• Also promoted the German government's decisions on arms exports to Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

"Consultants Affair"

• An investigative committee looked into contracts awarded to external consultancy firms.
• Data was deleted from her phones, leading to a criminal complaint suspecting deliberate destruction of evidence.

CDU Party Career

• Elected to the CDU executive board in December 2014.
• She was considered a leading contender to succeed Merkel as Chancellor.

Presidency of the European Commission

• Proposed by the European Council on July 2, 2019, and approved by the European Parliament on July 16, 2019.
• She is the first woman and the first German since Walter Hallstein to hold the office.
• She intended to retain Frans Timmermans as First-Vice President.

Actions and Policies as President

• She unveiled the new structure of the EU Commission on September 10, 2019.
• Supported the European Union–Mercosur free trade agreement.
• Remarks in favor of EU parliamentarians being given the right to initiate legislation.
• Her commission turned down the idea of suspending the Schengen Agreement in March 2020.
• Supported EU sanctions against Belarus and criticized Turkey's actions in the eastern Mediterranean in 2020.
• Responded to the AUKUS defence pact in September 2021, calling France's treatment "unacceptable".

Controversy Over COVID-19 Vaccine Deal

• Accused of "maladministration" for failure to disclose correspondence with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.
• The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) took over the investigation in 2024.

Response to Russian Invasion of Ukraine (2022)

• Stated that Ukraine should become a member of the European Union.
• She Visited Kyiv to support Volodymyr Zelenskyy and vowed to work toward Ukraine's EU accession.
• Sought to ban all imports of Russian crude oil and petroleum products.

Other Key Actions

• Agreed with the report that the EU needed to move away from unanimous voting in the Council in foreign policy.
• Called Azerbaijan a reliable partner for energy supply in July 2022.
• Celebrated Israel's 75th Independence Day in April 2023.
• Issued a video statement celebrating Israel's 75th Independence Day in April 2023.
• Celebrated Israel's 75th Independence Day in April 2023.
• Discussed reducing CO2 emissions through the EU Emission Trading System in August 2022.
• Celebrated Israel's 75th Independence Day in April 2023.

EU Asylum and Migration Pact

• The EU Asylum and Migration Pact has been criticized by some right-wing politicians for not going far enough to prevent illegal immigration.
• The EU Asylum and Migration Pact will institute a "mandatory solidarity mechanism".
• Countries where migrants first arrive will be able to relocate migrants to other EU member states.

Other Activities

• Member of the German branch of the European Movement.
• Board of Trustees member for the Total E-Quality initiative and Mädchenchor Hannover.
• Former board member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Munich Security Conference.

Political Views

• Introduced the Child Advancement Act and the German Elternzeit as Minister for Family Affairs.
• She supported tax equality for same-sex couples and came forward in support of equal adoption rights.
• She advocated for a mandatory blockage of child pornography on the Internet.
• As a proponent of an assertive German foreign policy, she approved to send arms to Kurdish and Iraqi security forces.