 Merkel has been widely described as the "de facto" leader of the European Union, the most powerful woman in the world, and by some commentators as the "leader of the free world".Merkel was born in Hamburg in then-West Germany, moving to East Germany as an infant when her father, a Lutheran clergyman, received a pastorate in Perleberg.She obtained a doctorate in quantum chemistry in 1986 and worked as a research scientist until 1989.