Top 10 Women's Leaders

We begin our ascent to the throne with England’s Queen and Head of the Commonwealth! Her Royal Highness Elizabeth II is one of the most instantly recognisable women ever to have lived! The world’s oldest reigning monarch, Britain’s longest lived, and rapidly closing in on Queen Victoria to become the UK’s longest-reigning head of state, she’s been making history for years! She’s a symbol of British and European tradition, but has also proven consistently adaptable to the ever-changing modern world. She’s a royal one off!

The only ever female Prime Minister of India (so far), Indira Gandhi held the office for four non-consecutive terms between the years 1966 and 1984 - holding roles as ‘President of the Indian National Congress’ and ‘Minister of Information and Broadcasting’ before assuming full power as PM in ‘66. A surprisingly ruthless ruler, she was an exceptionally strong-willed woman working in an until-then man’s world! Bringing about great agricultural change in India itself through the poverty-tackling ‘Green Revolution’, and an influential figure in creating the standalone nation Bangladesh, Gandhi was one of the most important women of the twentieth century!

Officially titled ‘Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland’ and ‘Empress of India’, Queen Victoria was also affectionately known as ‘The Grandmother of Europe’. Head of a royal family that stretched across an entire continent, this lady was internationally liked and respected! Victoria oversaw the Industrial Revolution in Britain, she held her own against political uprisings that dominated Europe during the mid-nineteenth Century, and she is still the longest-reigning female monarch to have lived. Anywhere. Ever! The legend says that she ‘was not amused’... But she was pretty incredible!

Daughter-in-law to Genghis Khan, Sorghaghtani Beki became arguably the most important, influential, and tactically impressive woman within the Mongol Empire following the legendaryleader’s death. Mother to four sons, she ensured that each of her offspring inherited at least some slice of Mongol rule, with probably the most significant portion held by second oldest Kublai, who founded the Yuan Dynasty in China. A master manipulator, famed forward-thinker and a notably tolerant woman, it was said of Sorghaghtani that ‘if there was another woman like her, the race of women would be far superior to that of men’!

Born into Pakistani politics, Benazir Bhutto is perhaps one of the bravest leaders to make today’s countdown! A victim to the military rule of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (under whom her father, the former Prime Minister, was executed), she endured several spells in prison and/or exile before eventually spearheading the Pakistan Peoples Party to election success in 1988. Violent opposition forever dogged her charismatic leadership however, culminating with her assassination in 2007. Having returned to Pakistan concerned over the extremism erupting there, she was herself killed in a bombing right before the next general election.

Probably the most powerful woman in the world today, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is one of the most important voices within twenty-first century Europe! Unofficially titled ‘The Decider’, she has played a crucial role in piecing Europe back together since 2007’s financial crisis, maintaining a firm grip upon the continent’s precarious purse strings...By expertly navigating herself and her country through the crisis, Merkel has managed to flourish where other European leaders have fallen - holding office for three terms and counting, she is one of the longest-servingleaders on the planet!

The first, and until now only, female Prime Minister of Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher’s time at Number 10 Downing Street is never likely to be forgotten! An often ruthless leader, her hard-line policies on social reform cuts, reductions in trade union influence and mass privatisation earned her almighty criticism... However, despite her apparent domestic opposition, Thatcher served for three terms until resigning from her post in 1990. The original ‘Iron Lady’, Thatcher knew how to ‘talk the talk’, but she was in no way afraid to ‘walk the walk’ either!

We head into the years BC but once in today’s top 10, but we do so for one of the most iconic women history has ever known! The last of the active Pharaohs, upon her ascension to the throne in Ancient Egypt, Cleopatra was seen as a reincarnation of the ideally matriarchal Goddess, Isis. A life story famously adapted for stage and screen on more than one occasion, she fought against Rome with Mark Antony, but was ultimately unable to prevent Octavian’s victory... Defiant until death, however, she committed suicide before the new Roman Empire was fully established!

More famously known as Catherine the Great, there are real good reasons why this Russian Empress was given such a gracious moniker! Ruling for thirty-four years, she oversaw what’s largely considered Russia’s ‘Golden Age’... A period of massive modernisation bringing the country in line with the rest of Europe (and in fact beyond most of it), it saw advancement made in agriculture, education, the military and the arts. Catherine also oversaw Russia’s geographical growth, expanding the borders on all sides - even into Alaska! A celebrated ruler, she’s beaten by just one other!

But, before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
- Elizabeth I of England
1533 - 1603
- Corazon Aquino
1933 - 2009
- Wu Zetian
624 - 705 AD
- Emmeline Pankhurst
1858 - 1928
- Boudica
30 - 61
- Hatshepsut
1508 - 1458 BC

The shortest lived of today’s top ten, Joan of Arc’s a literal legend of a leader! Following divine intervention allegedly experienced during her youth, she fought for Charles VII’s ascension to the French Throne, overcoming English opposition at Orleans against all odds! A figure who many believed to be a mythical ‘virgin’ sent by God to save France, she was ultimately betrayed by Charles, and burned at the stake as a heretic by the English... However, history remembers her as strong-willed, strongly admired, and incredibly brave! Canonised as a Saint in 1920, hers is an altogether higher level of leadership!

Do you agree with our list? Which women’s leader do you think was the most important? For more inspirational top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.