A new poll has revealed Michelle Obama has taken over Angelina Jolie to become the world’s most admired woman.
There’s no doubting the 55-year-old has achieved some incredible things in life. As well as being the first African-American First Lady of the United States, she is a lawyer, a mother, a writer and a role model.
Michelle made efforts to help solve childhood obesity and supported service members and veterans as well as young people and girls around the world by launching multiple initiatives, including Joining Forces, the Reach Higher Initiative and Let Girls Learn.
With everything she’s done it would be difficult not to look up to her and she can now add ‘world’s most admired woman’ to her list of achievements because according to an annual study by YouGov, looking at which public figures people look up to, she’s now earned the top spot.
Angelina Jolie, who earned the title last year, dropped to third place behind US talk show host and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey, who came in second on the 2019 list.
Queen Elizabeth II held on to fourth place while Harry Potter actor-turned philanthropist Emma Watson came fifth. The top 10 most admired women also included Malala Yousafzai, Peng Liyuan, Hillary Clinton, Tu Youyou and Taylor Swift.
As for the most admired men, billionaire tech mogul and philanthropist Bill Gates remained in first place, having topped the list every time since the survey launched in 2015.
He was followed by Michelle’s spouse former President Barack Obama, who joined Jackie Chan, Xi Jinping and Jack Ma to form the top five.
They were followed by Narendra Modi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dalai Lama, Lionel Messi and Vladimir Putin.
A vote by the British public placed David Attenborough and the Queen as the most admired figures in Britain.
Attenborough was followed by Barack Obama, Prince William, Prince Harry and Bill Gates while the Queen headed the list in front of Michelle Obama, Dame Judi Dench, J.K. Rowling and Malala Yousafzai.
Within the United States Barack and Michelle were voted the most admired man and women. The former president was followed by Donald Trump, Clint Eastwood, Bill Gates and Dwayne Johnson while Michelle stood ahead of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Melania Trump, Ellen DeGeneres and Queen Elizabeth II.
What do you make of the results?
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.