The first woman US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright is dead.
The news was announced by her family on Wednesday in a statement posted on Twitter.
Part of the statement read “We are heartbroken to announce that Dr. Madeleine K. Albright, the 64th U.S Secretary of State and the first woman to hold that position, passed away earlier today. The cause was cancer. She was surrounded by family and friends. We have lost a loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend.”
As a young girl, Madeleine arrived in the U.S. from war-torn Czechoslovakia and later became a political icon and feminist.
Read also: 10 things to know about Ladi Kwali, first woman featured on naira
Albright was pivotal in urging President Clinton’s mediation in Kosovo in 1999 to halt former Serbian leader, Slobodan Milosevic’s genocide against ethnic Muslims. She did this because she regretted the non-involvement of President Clinton’s administration to stop the genocide in Bosnia.
Madeleine Albright has been outspoken on her views on the Russian Ukraine issue. Even before the invasion, she made her opinion clear in a New York Times op-ed.
“Instead of paving Russia’s path to greatness, invading Ukraine would ensure Putin’s infamy by leaving his country diplomatically isolated, economically crippled and strategically vulnerable in the face of a stronger, more united Western alliance,” Albright stated.
Ned Price, the State Department’s chief spokesman referred to her as a trailblazer who took many people under her.
She will be missed for some of her quotes includingthe last one made at the 2022 International Woman’s Day,: “From Kabul to Kyiv and beyond, women and girls are on the front lines in the struggle for freedom and human dignity. On this #InternationalWomensDay my heart is with all those fighting for a better, peaceful and more equal future. #IWD2022.”
She will be dearly missed.
