The jury, chaired by Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, has decided to confer the award for 2009 on Dr. Merkel, an External Affairs Ministry release said here on Monday.
Born-17 July 1954 (age 56)
Hamburg, West Germany
Birth name-Angela Dorothea Kasner
Political party-Christian Democratic Union (1990–present)
Other politicalaffiliations- Democratic Awakening (1989–1990)
Spouse(s)-Ulrich Merkel (1977–1982)
Joachim Sauer (1998–present)
Alma mater-University of Leipzig
Profession-Physical chemist
Religion-Lutheranism
The 57-year-old German leader is known for her efforts for good governance and understanding and for the creation of a world better positioned to handle the emerging challenges of the 21st century, it said. She has been sympathetic to developing countries and our own developmental imperatives and has led the search for a balanced solution based on principles of equity and sensitivity to the interests of the developing world, it said.
The award carries prize money of Rs.1 crore besides a trophy and citation.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, Mother Teresa, Kenneth Kaunda, Aung San Suu Kyi, Hosni Mubarak, Josip Broz Tito and Nelson Mandela are some of past recipients of the award.
Angela Dorothea Merkel
She is the current Chancellor of Germany. Merkel, elected to the Bundestag (German Parliament) from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU (Christian Social Union) parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.
From 2005 to 2009 she led a grand coalition with the Christian Social Union (CSU), its Bavarian sister party, and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), formed after the 2005 federal election on 22 November 2005. In the elections of 27 September 2009, her party, the CDU, obtained the largest share of the votes, and formed a coalition government with the CSU and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). Her government was sworn in on 28 October 2009. In 2007, Merkel was also President of the European Council and chaired the G8. She played a central role in the negotiation of the Treaty of Lisbon and the Berlin Declaration. In domestic policy, health care reform and problems concerning future energy development have thus far been major issues of her tenure.
Merkel is the first female Chancellor of Germany. In 2007 she became the second woman to chair the G8, after Margaret Thatcher.