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Profiles
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Cristina Fernández de Kirchner became president of Argentina in December 2007 after winning the general election in October. She replaced her husband, Néstor Kirchner, who was president from May 2003 to December 2007. She is Argentina’s second female president, but the first to be elected. Kirchner was first elected to the Senate in 1995, and in 1997 to the Chamber of Deputies. In 2001 she won a seat in the Senate again. Born on 19 February 1954 in La Plata, Buenos Aires, Kirchner studied law at the National University of La Plata. She and her husband have two children. This will be the third G20 summit Kirchner has attended.
Finance minister: Amado Boudou
Central bank governor: Martin Redrado
Kevin Rudd became prime minister of Australia in December 2007, replacing John Howard, who had held the position since 1996. Before entering into politics, Rudd worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs, where he held posts in Stockholm, Sweden and China. He also spent time as a political staffer and held positions that included chief of staff for the premier of Queensland and director general of the office of the Queensland cabinet. Rudd first ran for office in 1996 and was elected in 1998. He was born in Nambour, Queensland, on 21 September 1957. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Asian studies at Australian National University in 1981, where he focused on Chinese language and history. He and his wife, Thérèse Rein, have three children. This will be the third G20 summit that Rudd has attended.
Finance minister: Wayne Swan
Central bank governor: Glenn Stevens
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva first assumed the office of the president in January 2003, after being elected in October 2002. He was re¬elected in October 2006, extending his term until January 2011. Lula first ran for office in 1982 in the state of São Paulo and in 1986 was elected to congress. He did not run for re-election in 1990. Instead, he became more involved in the Workers’ Party, where he continued to run for the office of president. Lula was born in Caetés, Pernambuco, on 27 October 1945. He received no formal education and began working in a copper pressing factory at the age of 14. He became heavily involved in the workers unions at a young age. He is married to Marisa Letícia and has five children. This will be the third summit that Lula has attended.
Finance minister: Guido Mantega
Central bank governor: Henrique de Campos Meirelles
Stephen Harper was elected prime minister of Canada in January 2006, assuming office from Paul Martin in February with a minority government. Harper ran for re-election in October 2008 and returned to the House of Commons with a stronger minority. Before running for politics he served as a policy adviser for the Reform Party. Harper was first elected as a member of parliament in 1993. He served as leader of the opposition for several years before becoming prime minister. Harper was born in Toronto, Ontario, on 30 April 1959. He studied at the University of Toronto and the University of Calgary, earning his master’s degree in economics in 1991. He and his wife, Laureen Harper, have two children. This will be the third G20 summit that Harper has attended.
Finance minister: James Flaherty
Central bank governor: Mark Carney
Hu Jintao has been president of the People’s Republic of China since March 2003. He replaced Jiang Zemin, who had held the position since 1989. Hu also serves as general secretary of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) Central Committee and chair of the Central Military Commission. Before entering politics he worked as an engineer. He joined the CPC in 1964 and began working with the party in 1968. In 1992, he was elected to the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and was re-elected in 1997. He became vice-president of China in March 1998 and vice-chair of the Central Military Commission in 1999. In 2002, Hu was elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. Born in Jiangyan, Jiangsu, on 21 December 1942, he received his engineering degree from Tsinghua University in 1965. He is married to Lui Yongqing and they have two children. This will be the third G20 summit that Hu has attended.
Finance minister: Xie Xuren
Central bank governor: Zhou Xiaochuan
Nicolas Sarkozy became president of France in May 2007, taking over from Jacques Chirac, who had held the position since 1995. Sarkozy worked as a lawyer while he pursued politics. From 1983 to 2002, he was mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine. He has been president of the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire since 2004. He has held a number of cabinet portfolios, including minister of state of the economy, finance and industry; minister of the budget; and minister of the interior. Sarkozy was born in Paris on 28 January 1955 and received his law degree from the Université de Paris in 1978. He is married to Carla Bruni and has three children from two previous marriages. This will be his third G20 summit.
Finance minister: Christine Lagarde
Central bank governor: Christian Noyer
Angela Merkel became chancellor of Germany in November 2005, replacing Gerhard Schröder, who had been in power since 1998. Before entering politics she worked as a researcher and physicist. She was first elected to the Bundestag in 1990 and has held the cabinet portfolios for women and youth, environment, nature conservation and nuclear safety. She was born in Hamburg on 17 July 1956 and received her doctorate in physics from the University of Leipzig in 1978. She is married to Joachim Sauer and has no children. This will be the third G20 summit that Merkel has attended.
Finance minister: Peer Steinbrück
Central bank governor: Axel Weber
Manmohan Singh became prime minister of India in May 2004, replacing Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who held the position from 1998 to 2004 and also for a short period in 1996. Singh was re-elected in May 2009. Before entering politics, he worked as an economist, including for the International Monetary Fund. He was governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1982 to 1985. Singh was first elected to the upper house in 1995. He was re-elected in 2001 and 2007 and served as minister of finance from November 2008 to January 2009. He was born in Gah, Punjab (now known as Chakwal district, Pakistan) on 26 September 1932. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Punjab University in 1952 and 1954. He also received an additional undergraduate degree from Cambridge University in 1957 and a doctorate from Oxford University in 1962. He and his wife, Gursharan Kaur, have three children. This will be the third G20 summit that Singh has attended.
Finance minister: Pranab Mukherjee
Central bank governor: Duvvuri Subbarao
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono assumed the presidency in October 2004, replacing Megawato Sukarnoputri, who had held the position since 2001. He was re-elected for a second term in July 2009. Before entering into politics, he served as a lecturer and a military general. His first experience in politics came when he was appointed minister of mines and energy in 1999. Yudhoyono later served as coordinating minister for politics and security. He was born on 9 September 1949, in Pacitan, East Java. He received his doctorate in agricultural economics from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture in 2004. He and his wife, Kristiani Herawati, have two children. This will be Yudhoyono’s third G20 summit.
Finance minister: Sri Mulyani Indrawati
Central bank governor: Miranda Goeltom (acting)
Silvio Berlusconi became prime minister of Italy for the third time after winning the April 2008 election. Before entering politics, he started his career as a building contractor. In 1980, he established Canale 5, the first private national television network in Italy. He also became a leading Italian publisher with Mondadori. In 1994 he resigned from Gruppo Fininvest in order to establish the political movement Forza Italia. In the same year, he became president of the Council of Ministers for the first time. In June 2001 Berlusconi became prime minister again, an office he held until 2006. Born in Milan on 29 September 1936, he received his law degree from the University of Milan. He is married to Veronica Lario and has five children. This will be the third G20 summit that Berlusconi has attended.
Finance minister: Giulio Tremonti
Central bank governor: Mario Draghi
Yukio Hatoyama, whose party was elected on 30 August 2009, replaced Taro Aso as prime minister. Aso had held the position since 24 September 2008. Before entering politics, Hatoyama worked as a professor. In 1998 he was instrumental in the merging of several parties to create the ‘new’ Democratic Party of Japan, and led the party from 1999 to 2002 before again assuming the leadership in May 2009. Hatoyama was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1986 and has been re-elected seven times. He was born in Tokyo on 11 February 1947. He studied engineering at Tokyo University and completed his PhD at Stanford University. He and his wife, Miyuki Hatoyama, have one son. This is his first G20 summit.
Finance minister: Kaoru Yosano
Central bank governor: Masaaki Shirakawa
Felipe Calderón Hinojosa became president of Mexico in December 2006, replacing Vicente Fox, who had held the position since 2000. In his early twenties Calderón was president of the youth movement of the National Action Party. He later served as a local representative in the legislative assembly in the federal chamber of deputies. In 1995 he ran for governor of Michaocán. He served as secretary of energy from 2003 to 2004. Born in Morelia, Michoacán, on 18 August 1962, Calderón received his bachelor’s degree in law from Escuela Libre de Derecho in Mexico City. He later received a master’s degree in economics from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, as well as a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University. He and his wife, Margarita Zavala, have three children. This will be the third G20 summit that Calderón has attended.
Finance minister: Agustín Carstens
Central bank governor: Guillermo Ortiz Martínez
Lee Myung-bak became president on 25 February 2008, replacing Roh Moo-hyun, who had occupied the position since 2003. Lee joined the Hyundai Construction Company in 1965 and eventually became chief executive officer of the Hyundai Group before being elected to the Korean National Assembly in 1992. In 2002 he was elected mayor of Seoul, a position he held until 2006. He was born in Kirano, Osaka, Japan, on 19 December 1941. He received a degree in business administration from Korea University in 1965. Lee and his wife, Kim Yun-ok, have four children. This will be his third G20 summit.
Finance minister: Yoon Jeung-Hyun
Central bank governor: Lee Seongtae
Dmitry Medvedev became president of Russia on 7 May 2008, after winning the presidential election in March and replacing Vladmir Putin, whose term in office had expired. Before entering politics, Medvedev worked as a legal expert and lawyer. He was officially endorsed as a presidential candidate in December 2007 by Russia’s largest political party, United Russia. Medvedev served as deputy prime minister from 2005 to 2008. He was born in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) on 14 September 1965. He earned a degree in law in 1987 and a doctorate in private law in 1990 from Leningrad State University. He is married to Svetlana Medvedeva and they have one child. This will be the third G20 summit that Medvedev has attended.
Finance minister: Alexei Kudrin
Central bank governor: Sergey Ignatiev
King Abdullah bin Adbul Aziz Al Saud has been in power since August 2005. He replaced Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, who had reigned since June 1982. As crown prince since 1987, Abdullah had previously acted as de facto regent and thus ruler since 1 January 1996, after Fahd was debilitated by a stroke. Abdullah was formally enthroned on 3 August 2005. He also serves as prime minister of Saudi Arabia and commander of the National Guard. Abdullah is chair of the supreme economic council, president of the High Council for Petroleum and Minerals, president of the King Abdulaziz Centre for National Dialogue, chair of the Council of Civil Service and head of the Military Service Council. He was born 1 August 1924 in Riyadh and has a number of wives and children. This will be the third G20 summit Abdullah has attended.
Finance minister: Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf
Central bank governor: Muhammad Al-Jasser
Jacob Zuma became president of South Africa on 9 May 2009, succeeding Petrus Kgalema Motlanthe, who had held the position since September 2008. Zuma joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1958 and joined the ANC’s National Executive in 1977. In 1994, he was elected National Chair of the ANC and chair of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal. He was re-elected to the latter position in 1996 and selected as the deputy president in December 1997. Zuma was appointed executive deputy president of South Africa in 1999 and held that position until 2005. He was elected ANC president at the end of 2007. Born on 12 April 1949, in Inkandla, KwaZulu-Natal Province, he has received numerous honorary degrees. He has three wives and several children. This will be the first G20 summit that Zuma has attended.
Finance minister: Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan
Central bank governor: Tito Mboweni
Recep Tayyip Erdogan became prime minister of Turkey in March 2003, replacing Abdullah Gül, who had occupied the office since 2002. Before becoming prime minister, Erdogan was mayor of Istabul from 1994 to 1998. He was born on 26 February 1954 in Rize, Turkey, and studied management at Marmar University’s faculty of economics and administrative sciences. He is married to Emine Erdogan and has two children. This will be the third G20 summit Erdogan has attended.
Finance minister: Kemal Unakitan
Central bank governor: Durmus Yilmaz
Gordon Brown became prime minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in June 2007, three days after becoming leader of the Labour Party. He was first elected to parliament in 1983 as representative for Dunfermline East. Since 2005 he has been the representative for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, also in Scotland. Before entering politics he worked as a lecturer and journalist. He served as chancellor of the exchequer from 1997 to 2007. Brown hosted the second G20 summit on 1-2 April 2009. Born in Govan, Glasgow, on 20 February 1951, he studied history at the University of Edinburgh and completed his doctorate in 1982. He and his wife, Sarah Brown, have two children. This will be the third G20 summit that Brown has attended.
Finance minister: Alistair Darling
Central bank governor: Mervyn King
Barack Obama became president of the United States on 20 January 2009, replacing George W. Bush, who had held the presidency since 2002. In 2005 Obama was elected to the Senate, having previously worked as a community organiser, a civil rights lawyer and a state legislator in Illinois. He was born on 4 August 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a Kenyan father and American mother. He received his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 1983 and a law degree from Harvard University in 1991. He is married to Michelle Obama and they have two children. This will be the second G20 summit that Obama has attended and the first that he has hosted.
Finance minister: Timothy Geithner
Central bank governor: Ben Bernanke
John Fredrik Reinfeldt has been prime minister of Sweden since October 2006. Sweden holds the six-month presidency of the European Council from 1 July to 31 December 2009, taking over from the Czech Republic led by Mirek Topolánek. Reinfeldt has been a member of the Swedish parliament since 1991. Born in 1965 in Österhaninge, he graduated from Stockholm University with a degree in business and economics. He is married to Filippa Reinfeldt and has three children. This will be the first G20 summit Reinfeldt has attended.
Finance minister: Anders Borg
Central bank governor: Stefan Ingves
José Manuel Barroso became president of the European Commission in November 2004. Previously, he was prime minister of Portugal from 2002 to 2004. Before entering politics Barroso was an academic. He studied law at the University of Lisbon, holds a master’s degree in economics and social sciences from the University of Geneva, and received his doctorate from Georgetown University in 1998. He is married to Maria Margarida Pinto Ribeiro de Sousa Uva and has three children. This is the third G20 summit Barroso will attend.
Central bank governor: Jean-Claude Trichet
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