--- description: It began with a story line familiar to every parent of every generation in every corner of the globe: an indignant teenager and a sudden... title: Greta Thunberg: TIME’s Person of the Year 2019 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf88372b131bc4f41/698a07414ee262a708316c2c/POY.main_.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Person of the Year topic](/tag/person-of-the-year-2/) ## Person of the Year topic Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Greta Thunberg: TIME's Person of the Year 2019  by [Edward Felsenthal](/author/edward-felsenthal/)  ## Edward Felsenthal Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Felsenthal is the Executive Chairman and former Editor in Chief of TIME. Dec 11, 2019 1:16 PM CUT  Climate activist Greta Thunberg photographed on the shore in Lisbon, Portugal, on Dec. 4, 2019. Climate activist Greta Thunberg photographed on the shore in Lisbon, Portugal, on Dec. 4, 2019.Photograph by Evgenia Arbugaeva for TIME  by [Edward Felsenthal](/author/edward-felsenthal/)  ## Edward Felsenthal Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Felsenthal is the Executive Chairman and former Editor in Chief of TIME. Dec 11, 2019 1:16 PM CUT It began with a story line familiar to every parent of every generation in every corner of the globe: an indignant teenager and a sudden burst of rebellion. It became one of the most unlikely and surely one of the swiftest ascents to global influence in history. Over the course of little more than a year, a 16-year-old from Stockholm went from a solitary protest on the cobblestones outside her [country’s Parliament](https://time.com/collection-post/5588274/greta-thunberg-time-cover-portrait/ "undefined") to leading a worldwide youth movement; from a schoolkid conjugating verbs in French class to meeting with the Secretary-General of the United Nations and receiving audiences with [Presidents](https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/17/politics/barack-obama-greta-thunberg-climate-change/index.html "undefined") and the [Pope](https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/17/europe/greta-thunberg-pope-eu-brexit-scli-intl/index.html "undefined"); from a solo demonstrator with a hand-painted slogan (Skolstrejk för Klimatet) to inspiring millions of people across more than 150 countries to take to the streets on behalf of the planet we share. Meaningful change rarely happens without the galvanizing force of influential individuals, and in 2019, the earth’s existential crisis found one in [Greta Thunberg](https://time.com/person-of-the-year-2019-greta-thunberg/ "undefined")…[_Read the full story here._](https://time.com/person-of-the-year-2019-greta-thunberg-choice/ "undefined") [Greta Thunberg: TIME’s Person of the Year 2019](https://time.com/person-of-the-year-2019-greta-thunberg/ "undefined") [Lizzo: TIME’s Entertainer of the Year 2019](https://time.com/entertainer-of-the-year-2019-lizzo/ "undefined") [Disney CEO Bob Iger: TIME’s Businessperson of the Year 2019](https://time.com/businessperson-of-the-year-2019-bob-iger/ "undefined") [U.S. Women’s Soccer Team: TIME’s Athlete of the Year 2019](https://time.com/athlete-of-the-year-2019-us-womens-soccer-team/ "undefined") [Public Servants: TIME’s Guardians of the Year 2019](https://time.com/guardians-of-the-year-2019-public-servants/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5748136/greta-thunberg-person-of-the-year-2019/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5748136/greta-thunberg-person-of-the-year-2019/"},"headline":"Greta Thunberg: TIME's Person of the Year 2019","datePublished":"2019-12-11T13:16:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T07:53:53.708Z","description":"It began with a story line familiar to every parent of every generation in every corner of the globe: an indignant teenager and a sudden...","url":"https://time.com/5748136/greta-thunberg-person-of-the-year-2019/","keywords":["Person of the Year topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf88372b131bc4f41/698a07414ee262a708316c2c/POY.main_.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Edward Felsenthal","jobTitle":"Felsenthal is the Executive Chairman and former Editor in Chief of TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/edward-felsenthal/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf88372b131bc4f41/698a07414ee262a708316c2c/POY.main_.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Greta Thunberg Time Person of the Year Cover 191223","caption":"Greta Thunberg Time Person of the Year Cover","creditText":"Photograph by Evgenia Arbugaeva for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/person-of-the-year-2/","name":"Person of the Year topic"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5748136/greta-thunberg-person-of-the-year-2019/","name":"Greta Thunberg: TIME's Person of the Year 2019"}}]}] ```