Madeleine Albright, the first woman to have ever held the post of state secretary in American history, succumbed to cancer and passed away Wednesday at the age of 84.
The news about her death was shared by her family on social media, The Times of Israel (TOI) reported.
In the official statement, the former diplomat was said to be "surrounded by family and friends."
"We have lost a loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend," it further states.
The family went on to say that at the time of her demise, Albright continued to hold relevant positions in various organizations.
Reactions poured in at the news of her passing.
Former President Bill Clinton released a lengthy statement on Twitter, describing Albright as "one of the finest Secretaries of State, an outstanding UN Ambassador, a brilliant professor, and an extraordinary human being."
"Madeleine's passing is an immense loss to the world in a time when we need the lessons of her life the most, but we know her legacy will live on through all the students she taught so well at Georgetown, everyone who was inspired by her remarkable journey from refugee to Secretary of State, and the many people around the world who are alive and living better lives because of her service," part of Clinton's statement says.
Former President George W. Bush also honored her heart for service.
"... She served with distinction as a foreign-born foreign minister who understood firsthand the importance of free societies for peace in our world," Bush reportedly stated.
Former President Barack Obama, on the other hand, shared his favorite story about the former state secretary, after calling her the "champion for democratic values."
In the story, Obama disclosed that an Ethiopian came up to Albright during a naturalization ceremony, telling her that "only in America could a refugee from Africa meet the Secretary of State." To which she replied that "only in America could a refugee from Central Europe become Secretary of State."
Albright was born Marie Jana in Prague on May 15, 1937 to parents, Josef and Anna Korbel. Her father was a Czechoslovakian diplomat. She was nicknamed "Madeleine" by her grandmother and in adolescence, her name was legally changed. Her family left for England when the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in World War II.
The Korbels would later return to their native country but fled again in 1948 when the government was ruled by the communists. They immigrated to the United States (US) and settled in Denver, where her father became a professor at the University of Denver. One of his students happened to be the woman who followed his daughter's footsteps - Condoleezza Rice.
Albright studied political science at the Wellesley College in Massachusetts and became an editor of the school's newspaper. When she worked as an intern at the Denver Post, she met her future husband, Joseph Medill Patterson Albright. They married just days after her graduation in 1959 and had three children together. She went on to complete her masteral and doctoral degrees in international affairs at Columbia University in 1976.
She was appointed as the US representative to the United Nations by Clinton and officially assumed the post in January 1993.
In January 1997, she became America's first female Secretary of State when Clinton nominated her and confirmed by the Senate.
TOI shared that Albright only learned about her Jewish background after her historic rise to power in 1997. Her family was Jewish but converted to Catholicism when she was only five years old. 25 of her relatives even died during the Holocaust.
She would later retrace her Jewish roots through the book "Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War," which was released in 2013.
As America's first female state secretary, Albright emphasized the need for women to help each other.
"I think what needs to happen is we need to help each other. And my motto is that there's a special place in hell for women who don't help each other," she declared in 2010, shared by Newsweek.
