Ursula von der Leyen was born on October 8, 1958, in Brussels, Belgium. Her birth name is Ursula Gertrud Albrecht. Although she was born in Belgium, she is a German national, as her father was serving at the European Commission in Brussels at the time. Her father was Ernst Albrecht and her mother was Heidi Adele Stromeyer. She has five brothers, including Hans-Holger Albrecht (born 1963). She began her education at the European School in Brussels, a private institution offering multilingual education.

In 1971, at the age of thirteen, Ursula von der Leyen moved with her family to Lehrte, near Hanover, Germany. She attended Lehrte High School, specializing in science and mathematics, and graduated with the Abitur diploma in 1976. In 1977, she began studying economics at the University of Göttingen and the University of Münster, graduating from both institutions in 1980. At the same time, she pursued economics studies at the London School of Economics. In 1980, she continued her academic career at the Hannover Medical School, graduating in 1987 as a practicing physician.

Between 1988 and 1992, Ursula von der Leyen worked as an assistant in the Department of Gynecology at Hannover Medical School. She completed her doctoral dissertation in 1991, earning the title of Doctor of Medicine. After working for a period as a gynecologist and lecturer, she concluded her medical training following the birth of her twin children in 1994.

Ursula von der Leyen married medical professor Heiko von der Leyen in 1986. As her husband worked at Stanford University between 1991 and 1996, the family lived in California from 1992 to 1996. During this period, she served as a guest speaker in the business department at Stanford University.

From 1998 to 2002, Ursula von der Leyen was a faculty member at Hannover Medical School in the Department of Epidemiology, Social Medicine, and Health Systems Research. In 2001, she obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health.

In 1990, she joined the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) together with her husband. She entered active politics in 1999 and became involved in local politics in the Hanover region in 2001. In 2003, she was elected to the Parliament of Lower Saxony and served from 2003 to 2005 as Minister for Social Affairs, Women, Family, and Health in the cabinet of Minister-President Christian Wulff.

Between November 22, 2005, and November 30, 2009, Ursula von der Leyen served as Germany’s Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth. Under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel, she held uninterrupted ministerial office from 2005 to 2019, later serving as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and subsequently as Minister of Defence.

Following the 2009 federal elections, Ursula von der Leyen entered the Bundestag representing Lower Saxony. Although initially considered for the role of Health Minister, she was appointed Minister of Labour and Social Affairs after the resignation of Franz Josef Jung. She served in this position from November 30, 2009, to December 17, 2013.

In 2013, after coalition negotiations between the CDU and the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Ursula von der Leyen was appointed Minister of Defence, becoming Germany’s first woman to hold this office. She served as Defence Minister from December 17, 2013, to July 17, 2019, during which she advocated for strengthening Germany’s military presence within NATO.

On July 16, 2019, following a proposal by French President Emmanuel Macron, Ursula von der Leyen was nominated for the presidency of the European Commission. She was approved by the European Parliament with 383 votes out of 747, narrowly surpassing the required threshold. She resigned as Germany’s Defence Minister the following day, and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer succeeded her.

Due to disagreements over the composition of the Commission, her term as President of the European Commission, initially scheduled to begin on November 1, 2019, was delayed. Ursula von der Leyen officially assumed office on December 1, 2019, for a five-year term.

Ursula von der Leyen was included in Time magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People of 2020. She was named the world’s most powerful woman by Forbes in both 2022 and 2023.

On June 10, 2024, following the European Parliament elections, Ursula von der Leyen was re-elected as President of the European Commission for a second term, receiving the support of 401 out of 720 Members of the European Parliament.

During her tenure as Germany’s Defence Minister, Ursula von der Leyen met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on December 3, 2015. On April 6, 2021, she visited Ankara as President of the European Commission alongside European Council President Charles Michel, where she found herself at the center of a widely discussed diplomatic protocol incident.

Ursula von der Leyen and her husband have seven children.

Source: Biyografiler.com