Atifete Jahjaga

Atifete Jahjaga (; born 20 April 1975) is a Kosovar Albanian politician who served as the third President of Kosovo. She was the first female President of the Republic of Kosovo, the first non-partisan candidate and the youngest female head of state to be elected to the top office. She served as Deputy Director of the Kosovo Police, holding the rank of General Lieutenant Colonel, the most senior among women officers in Southeastern Europe. Early life and education Jahjaga, a Kosovo Albanian, was born in Đakovica (now referred to as Gjakova), then a part of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Her paternal descent is from Berisha in northern Albania. She attended elementary and secondary school in Gjakova, and graduated from the University of Pristina at the Faculty of Law in 2000. In 2006/07, she completed a graduate and certificate program in police management and criminal law at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom. She also received extensive professional training at the George C. Marshall European Centre for Security Studies in Germany and the FBI National Academy in the United States, and a postgraduate Certification in Crime Science at the University of Virginia in the U.S.A., in 2007. Police career After the Kosovo War, Jahjaga completed Kosovo's Police Academy to become an officer and was gradually promoted to higher ranks, initially a major, then colonel, and finally major general, giving her contribution in building Kosovo's most trusted law enforcement institution. Jahjaga held the position of the Deputy Director of the Kosovo Police, and briefly filled in as acting General Director in 2010. While serving in the Kosovo Police, she drew the attention of American officers and diplomats who presented her before senior U.S. officials on special occasions as a representative of a new generation of Kosovar civil servants. Her pictures with U.S. President George W. Bush during his visit to the FBI National Academy and with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her visit to Kosovo were among the few distributed through the Internet before she was placed on the national spotlight as a presidential candidate.