Global diplomatic community remembers Madeleine Albright

Washington

TRIBUTES poured in on Wednesday (Mar 23) from diplomatic players around the world remembering Madeleine Albright, the first female US secretary of state and 1 of the most influential stateswomen of her generation, who has died at age 84.

Albright, who came to the United States as an 11-year-old political refugee, rose to serve as the country's top diplomat under president Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001. Clinton, as well as successors George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, hailed her historic service.

Albright "paved the way for progress in some of the most unstable corners of the world, and was a champion for democratic values. And as an immigrant herself, she brought a unique and important perspective to her trailblazing career," Obama said in a statement.

Born in Prague in 1937, Albright's family - who were Jewish, although she did not know of her heritage until later in life - fled ahead of the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939, losing several family members to extermination camps. She moved first to England, then to America a decade later.

"A Czechoslovak born leader, a strong advocate for democracy & human rights. Today more than ever, Central Europe remembers her commitment to Nato enlargement. My heartfelt condolences to her family," the Czech Republic's Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said on Twitter.

In a statement, Albright's family said she died of cancer, "surrounded by family and friends", and paid tribute to "a loving mother, grandmother, sister and friend" as well as a "tireless champion of democracy and human rights".

After studying political science, Albright made her entry into politics as a fund raiser, then a congressional aide - and entered president Jimmy Carter's administration working for Polish-American Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was Carter's national security adviser.

The United Nations, where Albright had served as US ambassador from 1993 to 1997, held a moment of silence for her. AFP