MPWTIME person of the year

Angela Merkel is TIME’s Person of the Year

By Jonathan Chew
German Chancellor Merkel's Annual Press Conference Addresses The Migrant Crisis
BERLIN, GERMANY - AUGUST 31: German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a press conference on August 31, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. During the annual press conference, the German Chancellor explained her view that Europe should work together to resolve the migrant crisis, sharing the burden of refugees between them. (Photo by Thomas Imo/Photothek via Getty Images)
Photograph by Thomas Imo — Photothek via Getty Images

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been named TIME’s Person of the Year, becoming just the fourth woman to individually win that honor since it was first bestowed in 1927.

Merkel beat a shortlist of seven other candidates that were seen to have made the most noteworthy impact this year, including ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the activists in Black Lives Matter, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

In a corresponding announcement on the Today show, TIME managing editor Nancy Gibbs emphasized Merkel’s handling of a myriad of issues – from the Greek debt crisis to the influx of refugees into the continent – as a primary reason for her win.

“In a year where world leaders were tested all through the year, no one was tested the way she was, over and over again,” Gibbs said on the show. “The threat to European peace and security really fell to her.”

The reaction to the pick on social media, at first glance, seems to be generally positive, and has also spurred the return of a bunch of the most famous Merkel memes and photos:

https://twitter.com/carlquintanilla/status/674571614147600384

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