# Ursula von der Leyen

| The Honourable Ursula von der Leyen |
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| Official portrait, 2024 |
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| President of the European Commission |
| **Incumbent** |
| **Assumed office**  1 December 2019 |
| Commission | Von der Leyen I and II |
| Preceded by | Jean-Claude Juncker |
| Minister for Defence |
| **In office** 17 December 2013 – 17 July 2019 |
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Preceded by | Thomas de Maizière |
| Succeeded by | Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer |
| Minister for Labour and Social Affairs |
| **In office** 30 November 2009 – 17 December 2013 |
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Preceded by | Franz Josef Jung |
| Succeeded by | Andrea Nahles |
| Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth |
| **In office** 22 November 2005 – 30 November 2009 |
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Preceded by | Renate Schmidt |
| Succeeded by | Kristina Schröder
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|  Party roles
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| Deputy Leader of the Christian Democratic Union |
| **In office** 15 November 2010 – 22 November 2019Serving with Volker Bouffier, Julia Klöckner, Armin Laschet, Thomas Strobl |
| Leader | Angela Merkel Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer |
| Preceded by | Christian Wulff |
| Succeeded by | Silvia Breher |

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|  Lower Saxony Cabinet
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| Minister for Social Affairs, Women and Families and Health |
| **In office** 4 March 2003 – 22 November 2005 |
| Minister-President | Christian Wulff |
| Preceded by | Gitta Trauernicht |
| Succeeded by | Mechthild Ross-Luttmann |

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|  Parliamentary constituencies
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| Member of the Bundestag for Lower Saxony |
| **In office** 27 October 2009 – 31 July 2019 |
| Preceded by | *Multi-member district* |
| Succeeded by | Ingrid Pahlmann |
| Constituency | Christian Democratic Union list |
| Member of the Landtag of Lower Saxony for Lehrte |
| **In office** 4 March 2003 – 7 December 2005 |
| Preceded by | Gerhard Schröder (1998) |
| Succeeded by | Dorothee Prüssner |

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| Personal details |
| Born | Ursula Gertrud Albrecht  (1958-10-08) 8 October 1958 Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium |
| Citizenship | Germany |
| Political party | Christian Democratic Union (since 1990) |
| Other political affiliations | European People's Party |
| Spouse(s) |
Heiko von der Leyen
​ ​(m. 1986)​ |
| Children | 7 |
| Father | Ernst Albrecht |
| Relatives | * Hans-Holger Albrecht (brother)
* Carl Albrecht (grandfather)
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| Alma mater | University of Göttingen London School of Economics Hannover Medical School (MD, MPH) |
| Occupation | * Politician
* Physician
* Research fellow
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| Signature |  |
| Website | ec.europa.eu/president |
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Ursula von der Leyen's voice
Duration: 3 minutes and 29 seconds.3:29
Von der Leyen's speech following the Russian invasion of Ukraine Recorded 24 February 2022
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**Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen** (de; née **Albrecht**; born 8 October 1958) is a German politician and physician serving as president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding positions in Angela Merkel's cabinet.

Von der Leyen was born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, to German parents. Her father, Ernst Albrecht, was one of the first European civil servants. She was brought up bilingually in German and French, and moved to Germany in 1971 when her father became involved in German politics. She graduated from the London School of Economics in 1978, and in 1987, she acquired her medical licence from Hanover Medical School. After marrying physician Heiko von der Leyen, she lived for four years in the United States with her family in the 1990s. After returning to Germany she became involved in local politics in the Hanover region in the late 1990s, and she served as a cabinet minister in the state government of Lower Saxony from 2003 to 2005.

On 2 July 2019, von der Leyen was proposed by the European Council as the candidate for president of the European Commission. She was then elected by the European Parliament on 16 July, becoming the first woman to hold the office. She was named the most powerful woman in the world by *Forbes* in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

On 18 July 2024, von der Leyen was re-elected as President of the European Commission by the European Parliament with an absolute majority of 401 members of the European Parliament out of 720.

Headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels (Berlaymont building)

## Other websites

* Official Site of Ursula von der Leyen Archived 2011-02-21 at the Wayback Machine (in German)