diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/PersonHoverCard.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/PersonHoverCard.svelte
index 74c36260..36a4989d 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/PersonHoverCard.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/PersonHoverCard.svelte
@@ -34,12 +34,29 @@ const dateRange = $derived(
 		: ''
 );
 
+/**
+ * Cut the notes excerpt at the last word boundary inside the NOTES_MAX
+ * window. Mid-word truncation is especially ugly in German compound nouns
+ * ("…Familienzu…"), so prefer the previous space if there is one within
+ * a reasonable distance. Fall back to a hard cut for strings with no
+ * spaces at all (e.g. a single 150-char word). Leonie FINDING-04 / Elicit E5.
+ */
+function truncateAtWordBoundary(text: string, max: number): string {
+	if (text.length <= max) return text;
+	const window = text.slice(0, max);
+	const lastSpace = window.lastIndexOf(' ');
+	// If the last space is too close to the start (< 70% of the window) we'd
+	// produce a near-empty excerpt — fall back to the hard cut instead.
+	const minBoundary = Math.floor(max * 0.7);
+	const cut = lastSpace >= minBoundary ? window.slice(0, lastSpace) : window;
+	return cut + '…';
+}
+
 const notesExcerpt = $derived.by(() => {
 	if (state.status !== 'loaded') return null;
 	const notes = state.person.notes;
 	if (!notes) return null;
-	if (notes.length <= NOTES_MAX) return notes;
-	return notes.slice(0, NOTES_MAX) + '…';
+	return truncateAtWordBoundary(notes, NOTES_MAX);
 });
 
 // Accessible name for the region landmark — required by WCAG 1.3.1.
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/PersonHoverCard.svelte.spec.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/PersonHoverCard.svelte.spec.ts
index 0d9dd955..f68bfdfc 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/PersonHoverCard.svelte.spec.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/PersonHoverCard.svelte.spec.ts
@@ -197,7 +197,9 @@ describe('PersonHoverCard — loaded state', () => {
 		await expect.element(page.getByText('Born in Berlin.')).toBeInTheDocument();
 	});
 
-	it('truncates notes longer than 120 characters with an ellipsis', async () => {
+	it('truncates notes longer than 120 characters with an ellipsis (single long word)', async () => {
+		// Single 150-char word with no spaces: word-boundary cut would yield nothing,
+		// so fall back to a hard cut at 120 + ellipsis (Sara #7: pin the exact length).
 		const long = 'x'.repeat(150);
 		const withLongNotes = { ...AUGUSTE, notes: long } as Person;
 		render(PersonHoverCard, {
@@ -207,8 +209,34 @@ describe('PersonHoverCard — loaded state', () => {
 			state: { status: 'loaded', person: withLongNotes, relationships: [] }
 		});
 		const notes = document.querySelector('[data-testid="person-hover-card-notes"]')!;
-		expect(notes.textContent!.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(122);
-		expect(notes.textContent).toContain('…');
+		expect(notes.textContent).toBe('x'.repeat(120) + '…');
+	});
+
+	it('truncates at the last word boundary inside the 120-char window (Leonie FINDING-04)', async () => {
+		// 150-char string with spaces — must cut at the last space, not mid-word.
+		const sentence = 'Sie war eine bekannte Schriftstellerin und engagierte sich '.repeat(3);
+		// length is 180, last space at idx ≤120
+		const withLongNotes = { ...AUGUSTE, notes: sentence } as Person;
+		render(PersonHoverCard, {
+			personId: 'p-aug',
+			cardId: 'card-1',
+			position: POSITION,
+			state: { status: 'loaded', person: withLongNotes, relationships: [] }
+		});
+		const notes = document.querySelector('[data-testid="person-hover-card-notes"]')!;
+		const text = notes.textContent ?? '';
+		// Ends with ellipsis
+		expect(text.endsWith('…')).toBe(true);
+		// Last char before the ellipsis is NOT a half-word — verify by checking that
+		// the position right before … is the end of a word (i.e., there's no letter
+		// further along in the original text immediately after our cut point).
+		const cut = text.slice(0, -1); // strip the …
+		// Find this cut substring in the original sentence
+		const idx = sentence.indexOf(cut);
+		expect(idx).toBe(0);
+		const charAfterCut = sentence[cut.length];
+		// The next char should be a space — confirming we cut on a boundary
+		expect(charAfterCut).toBe(' ');
 	});
 
 	it('omits notes section when notes is null', async () => {