Madeleine Albright, first female US secretary of state, dies at 84

The first female US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, has died at the age of 84. Born in what was then Czechoslovakia, Albright never shied away from speaking her mind.

Madeleine Korbel Albright, the first woman to become US secretary of state, died Wednesday, her family said in a statement. She was 84 years old.

She died of cancer, her family said, adding that she was "surrounded by family and friends" at the time.

In 1997, following Bill Clinton's reelection as US president, Albright was sworn in as the country's first female secretary of state. By then Albright, a political science professor, had already made a name for herself as a foreign policy adviser to several Democratic presidential candidates — including Clinton. In 1993, during his first term in office, Clinton had made Albright the US ambassador to the UN.

Albright had three daughters. She divorced her husband, Joseph Albright, in 1982. Albright died on Wednesday at the age of 84.

During her first year as the top US diplomat, Albright — who spoke Czech, English, French, Russian, Serbian and Polish — set a record for foreign visits, with 98, only beaten by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2012, with 102. Most Europeans welcomed her nomination, expecting her to show a special interest in the countries of central and eastern Europe as well as former Soviet republics.