Photo: Sean Hurt, CC BY 2.0 — Source
Liberian politician and economist who served as President of Liberia from 2006 to 2018, making her the first elected female head of state in Africa. A Harvard-trained economist, she survived imprisonment and exile under successive authoritarian regimes before winning the presidency after Liberia's devastating civil wars. She shared the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent struggle for women's safety and women's rights to full participation in peace-building. Her administration oversaw post-war reconstruction, debt relief, and the Ebola crisis response, though she also faced criticism over nepotism and governance challenges.
Source: Nobel Prize