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(CNN) - When the leaders of the European Council met for a group photo in Brussels last week, it was hard not to see the class rookie.
Located in the front and center, among the orderly ranks of middle-aged men, was the new Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, 34.
The young woman had a big smile. And why not, given his new status as the youngest acting minister in the world.
The former transport minister rose to world fame earlier this month after the leader of her Social Democratic Party resigned, and Marin rose, becoming the youngest acting prime minister in the country.
He now leads the five-party ruling coalition of Finland, all of which have female leaders, and almost all under 35.
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It is a remarkable formation, since the leaders of the country have traditionally been older men.
Marin's youth and gender "make her stand out among her predecessors, who have mostly been 50-year-old men," said Timo Miettinen, a researcher at the Department of Political and Economic Studies at the University of Helsinki.
Finland was the first country in the world to choose women for parliament, just over a century ago. At that time, there were only two women in the post of prime minister before Marin, each serving for no more than a year.
Initially, many Finns were too involved in internal political conflicts (the former prime minister resigned after industrial strikes nationwide) to worry a lot about Marin's record age.
But when the international press began to weigh, they realized, Miettinen said.
"People have been saying that it is the best thing that can happen to Finland's international reputation," he said.
"There is a sense of pride, at least among their supporters and the people who support their coalition parties."
Marin and his fellow coalition leaders do not resemble the average leading politicians. The new prime minister is a fan of Rage Against the Machine, and the band's guitarist, Tom Morello, proudly shared a photo of Marin and her female training.
Rainbow family
The modest environment in which Marin was formed also does not resemble that of an average world leader.
Her parents divorced when she was a child "due to my father's alcoholism problem," Marin wrote in a blog in 2016.
She grew up in a “rainbow family,” with her mother in a homosexual relationship, in the Pirkkala region, north of Helsinki. They lived in a rented apartment and, despite not having much money, Marin wrote that they had an "abundance" of love.
At 15, Marin's first summer job was in a bakery, and in high school she distributed magazines to earn extra money.
After graduating, she worked as a cashier, a role that the Estonian Interior Minister made fun of this week, calling her a “saleswoman” and questioning her ability to run the country.
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Estonia apologized to Finland for the comments made by the leader of the far-right EKRE party, Mart Helme.
Marin used the comment to his political advantage, tweeting: “I am extremely proud of Finland. Here the son of a poor family can educate himself and achieve his goals in life. A cashier can even become prime minister. ”
A divided country
Marin was the first member of his family to attend college. He entered politics at age 20 and quickly rose to the ranks of the Social Democratic Party of the center left. At 27, she was elected leader of the Tampere City Council, and three years later she became a deputy.
His policy sits to the left of his party, supporting the increase in refugee entry and raising taxes to support state welfare.
With their humble experience and humanitarian policies, some commentators have chosen Marin as the antidote for other strong world leaders. Many made comparisons with the progressive Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardhern, who took office at the age of 37.
Marin gives the impression of being "a person with many principles," Miettinen said. "It does not avoid difficult questions and does very well in political debates on television, which are a very important part of Finnish culture."
The big challenge for Marin now will be to unite his deeply divided social democratic party. The group has seen a division between its young and left-wing urban supporters, and the traditional union working class that lives outside the cities.
Marin is "clearly affiliated" with the urban base, which could alienate the traditional voters of the party's working class, Miettinen said.
And with the rise of the Finnish nationalist party, there is a real threat that they will attract dissatisfied social democratic voters.
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In recent years, traditional social-democratic workers in industrial cities were unemployed as companies moved, Miettinen said.
Now there is a "genuine threat" that "right-wing, populist and nationalist parties give these people at least the feeling of being able to maintain some kind of identity."
Shortly after Marin became prime minister, the leader of the Finnish nationalist party, Jussi Halla-aho, tweeted his congratulations, with an emoji from a popcorn bucket.
"It was a sarcastic way of saying good luck with the future, because you will still have all the problems you had before," Miettinen said.
Now, the world will be watching how this prime minister who sets records faces them.
Finland