Madeleine Albright

Earl

y C

hild

hood

I was born in Smíchov, a

town in Prague, Czechoslovakia on May

15, 1937 I was the oldest out of

my siblings, I had one

brother and one sister,

John and Katherine. My father, Josef Korbel,

was a Jewish Czech diplomat, and was married to my mother

Anna Korbel.

Making

Changes

My father was announced Czechoslovak Ambassador,

he moved the family to Belgrade and sent me to

Prealpina Institut pour Jeunes Filles, in Switzerland.

Here, I learned French and my name became

Madeleine, which is French for my nickname Madlenka.

Making AdjustmentsAfter the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia

took over the government in 1948, my

father was forced to resign.

He received a position on the United Nations

delegation in Kashmir..

Leavi

ng H

om

e

After he knew about

the delegation, he sent my family and I

over seas to the United states.We arrived in New York

City, New York in November of 1948.

We settled on Long Island, New York.

Exp

lori

ng T

he

New

Worl

d

Once again we moved,

I spent the majority of

my teen years in Denver, Colorado. I graduated from Kent

Denver School in 1955. I then became an

American citizen in 1957.

College LifeI attended Wellesley College in

Wellesley, Massachusetts.

I went to college on a full

scholarship, and majored in

political science. I also joined the

College Democrats of America.

I graduated from college in 1959.

Firs

t C

om

es

Love

, Then C

om

es

Marr

iage…

….

While home in Denver

I worked for the Denver Post. That is where I met my husband Joseph Medill

Patterson Albright. We

got married in Wellesley, shortly after

my college graduation

in 1959.

Then c

om

es

Babie

s!

In 1961, Joseph began

working at Newsday in

New York City. So we

moved to Garden City

on Long Island, New

York.This is where I had my

twins, Anne and Alice.

They were 6 weeks premature.

On T

he M

ove

In 1962 we moved to

Georgetown in Washington D.C.

I began to study international relations,

and continue to study

Russian. After a death in the family, we returned to

Long Island. To help with Joseph’s family business.

Third one’s always the charm.When we moved back to Long Island, I continued my

studies at the Columbia University’s Department of

Public Law and Government.

We also gave birth to another daughter, Katherine, in 1967.

Heart B

roke

nEventually I moved back to

Washington D.C, and

commuted to Columbia for

my PhD.

I received my PhD in 1975.

After returning home from a

political assignment in

Poland, Joseph declared he

wanted a divorce.

Begin

nin

g M

y O

wn

Care

er

In P

olit

ics.

In 1972 I was invited

to organize a fundraising dinner for

the presidential campaign of U.S Senator, Ed Muskie. This led him to giving

me the position of his

chief legislative assistant in 1976.

Being a part of the

United Nations

My first diplomatic position

was when I was appointed

Ambassador of the United

Nations.

I presented my credentials

on Feb. 9th 1993.

Hig

h H

onor

After many

different political

positions, I took

office as the 64th

U.S Secretary of

State, on Jan. 3rd,

1997. I became

the highest

ranking woman in

the U.S

government.

Appointed by

President Bill

Clinton, I was

honored to be the

first female to

ever receive this

position.