10 most powerful female politicians in the world (+Photos)

Dilma Rousseff (Rank on  Most Powerful Women list: 3)

Dilma Vana Rousseff, the 36th and the present Brazilian president was born on 14 December 1947 and was raised in in an upper middle class household in Belo Horizonte. She is the first woman to hold the office. Prior to that, in 2005, she was also the first woman to become Chief of Staff to the President of Brazil. She was a socialist since her childhood and had also joined various left-wing and Marxist urban guerrilla groups to fight against the military dictatorship. An economist by education, Dilma is one of the most authoritative women politicians who once said “I would like parents who have daughters to look straight in their eyes and tell them: ‘Yes, a woman can,’”.