Olga Simonöverdin

**Olga Maria Simonöverdin** (born 12 August 1975) is a Lashardian Christian Democrat politician, who is the current leader of the Christian Democrats. She was elected into the position in 2012, and has served in the Lashardian Parliament since 2010.

Simonöverdin was the Christian Democrat candidate in the 2012 Lashardian presidential election, where she earned the lowest amount of votes. She will be the Christian Democrat candidate in the 2016 Lashardian presidential election, again.

## Life and career

### Early life

Simonöverdin was born on 12 August 1975 in Van Hidewind (now Vanvind), Dayasland. Her father Simon, was a coal miner, while her mother Maria, was a homemaker. She has a younger sister, and the family was working class. Her parents were irreligious. When Simonöverdin was four years old, her father abandoned the family. Later, when she was eight, her mother died of lung cancer, and her and her sister were subsequently raised by their maternal grandmother, a staunch Lashardian Orthodox Christian.

Simonöverdin attended primary school in Van Hidewind, where she excelled academically, particularly in humanities and history. She graduated from primary school in 1990, and went on to attend a social sciences high school where she specialized in sociology. After graduating from high school in 1993, Simonöverdin began attending Dayasland University. She graduated with bachelor's degrees in theology and sociology in 1997, and later earned her master's degree in sociology from Lashardian Orthodox University in 2000.

### Political career

After obtaining her master's degree, Simonöverdin began working with the Dayasland branch of the Christian Democratic Party. She rose up in the ranks, and in 2003 she was transferred to their Ubenmoor office. Her political career began officially in 2006, when she was listed on the Christian Democratic Party's ballot during the 2006 Lashardian general election. However, the party did not win enough seats in parliament and she thus did not become a parliament member.

Later, in 2010, Simonöverdin was once again listed on the ballot for Christian Democratic Party during the 2010 Lashardian general election, this time as the second name. She went on to win a seat in parliament. In parliament, Simonöverdin was seen as liberal compared to other Christian Democrats, supporting same-sex marriage, abortion rights under certain circumstances, and was against a bill to make Lashardian Orthodox studies mandatory for all Lashardian students, regardless of religion.

In 2012, Simonöverdin ran for the leader of the Christian Democrats. She went on to win the election, and has held the position ever since. As leader, she has managed to double the amount of seats the Christian Democrats had in parliament in the 2014 Lashardian general election.

## Personal life

Simonöverdin met accountant Karl Jonögörg in 2001. They soon began dating, and were later married in September 2005. Simonoöverdin gave birth to their first child, a son, Lionel, in March 2007. Their second child, a daughter, Anastasia, was born in November 2008. The family resides in the Dragonstone district of Ubenmoor. Simonöverdin has stated that she will raise her children as Lashardian Orthodox Christians, but will allow them to choose what they want to practice when they're older. Jonögörg is irreligious himself.

In a 2013 interview, Simonöverdin revealed that she has begun speaking with her father again over 30 years after he abandoned her family when she was a child. She stated, "He contacted me and I responded. We're thinking of meeting to have a chat soon. He said he was proud of all I've done and wished he didn't do what he did. I forgive him, God tells me to forgive, so it's what I'll do. But of course I wish he would've been there in my childhood during all the moments when I needed a paternal influence".