Europe and the Soviet Union
Madeleine Korbel Albright: From Czechoslovakia to American Diplomacy
Twice a refugee as a child, she became the first woman to serve as Secretary of State.
- Fled
- Czechoslovakia
- Status
- Refugee
- Arrived in the U.S.
- 1948
- Service
- 64th Secretary of State (1997 to 2001); U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
- Region
- Europe and the Soviet Union
Madeleine Albright's family fled twice. They escaped the Nazis to England during World War II, then left Czechoslovakia for good after the Communist takeover in 1948. Her father was a Czechoslovak diplomat who supported democracy. The family arrived in the United States on November 11, 1948, when she was eleven.
She served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and then as the 64th Secretary of State, the first woman to hold the office. In her own words, she came to the United States as a refugee.
Read the history behind this story on the Czechoslovakia page, or browse all the diplomats.