Born July 17 1954 ANGELA MERKEL CHANCELLOR Once upon a time in Templin Germany there lived a seven her father’s sermon in church when her mother started to cry year-old girl called Angela One Sunday she was listening to What’s the matter Angela asked They are going to build a wall her mother said They want to seal off the border between East Germany and West Germany Angela was stunned Why would they build a wall she thought People should be free to go wherever they like Not only would East Germans be stopped from going to the West but they would be barred from listening to the news coming from the other side Every day Angela would hide in the school washroom with a little radio and try to catch a station from the West It was illegal to do this but she didn’t care she wanted to know what was happening to her country When Angela grew up she studied quantum chemistry and wanted to become a university professor The secret police told her that she would be promoted only if she spied for them Angela refused and she never became a professor She was working as a researcher in a lab when the Berlin Wall was demolished She called her mom and said I think we’re free to go to the West Indeed they were Angela eventually became chancellor of Germany a determined leader who knew the pain walls could cause and never wanted her people to be divided again GERMANY 1
Illustration By Elenia Beretta WHAT WE SEEK IS HARMONY AMONG NATIONS THAT WAS AND REMAINS THE GREATEST GOAL OF EUROPEAN UNITY ANGELA MERKEL
Catherine The Great EMPRESS Once there was a queen who disliked her husband Her name was Catherine and her husband Peter was the emperor of Russia The Russian people found him mean and arrogant Catherine knew she would do a better job of ruling the country All she had to do was to figure out a way of replacing her husband Six months after becoming emperor Peter went on vacation leaving Catherine behind This was her chance Catherine gave a rousing speech to the royal soldiers to get them on her side They switched their loyalty from Peter to Catherine and a priest declared her the new ruler of Russia She then ordered a suitably magnificent crown to be made One of her first acts as empress was to order her husband to be arrested and put in jail Catherine’s magnificent crown took two months to create It was made of gold and silver encrusted with 4,936 diamonds 75 pearls and a huge ruby on top During her reign Catherine expanded the Russian empire winning many wars and uprisings Lots of people were envious of this powerful woman They said nasty things about her behind her back when she was alive and when she died they said she must have fallen off the toilet In fact she died in her bed and was buried in a golden tomb in Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg 3 MAY 2 1729 NOVEMBER 17 1796 RUSSIA
Illustration By I AM ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THE WHY OF THINGS CATHERINE THE GREAT MARIJKE BUURLAGE
