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

Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte
(Image credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

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.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

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.