Madeleine Albright, the first female U.S. secretary of state, has died at age 84, her family said on March 23.
The family said Albright died of cancer, “surrounded by family and friends.”
They called her “a loving mother, grandmother, sister, and friend” as well as a “tireless champion of democracy and human rights.”
Albright, a native of Czechoslovakia, was appointed America’s top diplomat by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1996.
She served in that role for the final four years of Clinton’s administration.
She also served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in 1993, where she pressed for a tougher international stance against the Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
She was born Marie Jana Korbelova in 1937 near Prague, the daughter of a Czechoslovakian diplomat.
Albright had been a high-profile political commentator since leaving her post. / Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP