Madeleine Albright died at the age of 84

(dpa) Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has died at the age of 84. She succumbed to cancer on Wednesday surrounded by family and friends, her family said in a statement shared via Albright’s verified Twitter account. The TV channel CNN reported that Albright’s death was also confirmed in an email to employees of a consulting firm she co-founded.

Albright became the US government’s ambassador to New York under President Bill Clinton. She later became the first woman to head the State Department in Washington. In the process, the Democrat, originally from Eastern Europe whose family had once immigrated to the United States, became a leading voice in American foreign policy in the 20th century. State Department spokesman Ned Price said Wednesday her influence can still be felt in every corridor of the agency today.

Shortly before her death, Albright found harsh words for Russian President Vladimir Putin, one day before Russia’s war of aggression began. “An invasion of Ukraine would not pave Russia’s path to greatness, but would seal Mr. Putin’s dishonor by leaving his country diplomatically isolated, economically crippled and strategically vulnerable to a stronger, unified Western alliance,” she wrote in a guest post in the ” New York Times». If Mr. Putin feels cornered, he can only blame himself. Albright said Ukraine has a right to its sovereignty regardless of who its neighbors are. “In the modern age, big countries accept that, and Mr. Putin has to accept that too.”

Albright was born Marie Jana (known as Madlenka) Korbelova on May 15, 1937 in Prague, the eldest of three children in a Jewish family of diplomats. After German troops invaded, the family first emigrated to England, where Albright, unaware of her Jewish origins, was raised as a Catholic. The family later emigrated to the USA.

More to come.