Madeleine Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová on May 15, 1937) was the first woman to become United States Secretary of State. She was appointed by President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996, and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate 99-0. She was sworn in on January 23, 1997.

Albright was born on May 15, 1937 in the Smíchov district of Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia. At the time of her birth, Czechoslovakia had been independent for less than 20 years, having gained independence from Austria after World War One. Her father, Josef Korbel, was a Jewish Czech diplomat and supporter of the early Czech democrats, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and Edvard Beneš. She was his first child with his Jewish wife Anna (née Spieglová), who later also had another daughter Katherine (a schoolteacher) and son John (an economist). At the time of Albright’s birth, Korbel was serving as press-attaché at the Czechoslovak Embassy in Belgrade. However, the signing of the Munich Agreement in March 1938 and the disintegration of Czechoslovakia at the hands of Adolf Hitler forced the family into exile because of their links with Beneš. Prior to their flight, Albright's parents had converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism. Albright spent the War years in England, while her father worked for Benes’ Czechoslovak government-in-exile. They first lived on Kensington Park Road in Notting Hill, London, where they endured the worst of the Blitz, but later moved to Beaconsfield, then Walton-on-Thames, on the outer skirts of London. While in England, a young Albright appeared as a refugee child in a film designed to promote sympathy for all War refugees in London.

Prior to being named US Secretary of State, Albright discovered what she claims was an unknown Jewish heritage. Many of her Jewish relatives in Czechoslovakia perished in the Holocaust, including three of her grandparents. Albright was raised Catholic, although later in life, she joined the Episcopal Church of USA.