With Macron, the leaders of Europe's 4 biggest economies have a combined 0 biological children

(Image credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

last updated 8 May 2017

When Emmanuel Macron is sworn in as France's president on around May 15, after beating National Front candidate Marine Le Pen on Sunday, 66 percent to 34 percent, he will be France's youngest leader since Napoleon Bonaparte. Ten days later, he will attend his first summit of world leaders, a meeting of NATO heads of state in Brussels, followed by a G7 summit in Sicily.

Macron will find some things in common with various allies and confront some pretty stark differences, especially over the future of Europe — British Prime Minister Theresa May is divorcing the European Union, leaving Macron and Germany's Angela Merkel the two most important leaders of the remaining EU bloc. But along with having M last names, Macron, Merkel, and May have something curious in common: The leaders of Europe's three largest economies have "zero biological children among them," Lauren Collins points at The New Yorker. Italy is the fourth-largest European economy, and Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, 62, also has no children.

Each of the four leaders is married — Macron and Merkel have stepchildren, and May and Gentiloni have no children. And Macron, who embraced his hybrid family during the election, "is close to his stepchildren, all of whom have been active in his campaign, and even his step-grandchildren," Collins reports. President Trump has five children from his three marriages, and three of those children were active in his campaign — now two are running his business, and one has a job in his White House. France probably shouldn't expect a similar arrangement, BBC News reports: "Macron has been stern about politicians employing family members."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.