Yulia Tymoshenko is Ukraine’s prime minister and one of the world’s few female leaders. She is head of the All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" party and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc. She was born in 1960 and spent her teenage years rising through the Soviet Communist Youth Organization. She has a Ph.D. in economics and has written over 50 research papers.

 

Before she entered politics, Tymoshenko was a successful businesswoman. In 1989, she started a chain of video rental stores, which made her quite rich. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, she had several high positions in Ukraine’s oil and gas industries and became one of Ukraine’s richest people. Her newly found fortune allowed her to start up her own political party.

 

During Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, the Western media dubbed her as the nation’s Joan of Arc. She was appointed as acting prime minister in January 2005, but lost power in September that same year when Ukraine’s president dismissed her government. She returned to power in June 2006, following national elections. She is widely tipped to one day become President of Ukraine.

 

There are many other sides to Tymoshenko’s life. In 2001, she was voted as one of the most beautiful women to ever enter politics. She is also known for her trademark plaited hairstyle, which became iconic during the Orange Revolution, and which she keeps to this day. She once joked her hairstyle was “a steering wheel to drive the state”.