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More than 1,400 people, including President Biden and several foreign leaders, are expected to attend the funeral Wednesday of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who died last month at the age of 84 after a long career in public service.
The service began shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral, with which Albright had close ties for decades. Biden, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will deliver speeches in memory of Albright’s life, including her honors as the nation’s first female secretary of state.
Others who will pay tribute to Albright include Undersecretary of State Wendy R. Sherman, who has been friends with Albright for more than 35 years; former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was a student at Albright’s father, Joseph Corbel, at the University of Denver; and Albright’s three daughters.
Albright died on March 23. The cause is cancer, her family said.
Madeleine Albright, the first female secretary of state, has died at the age of 84
The service’s music on Wednesday will include plays by Czech composers in homage to Albright’s roots: Albright was born in 1937 in what was then Czechoslovakia. Her Jewish family fled Prague to escape the Nazis, and Albright later came to the United States as an 11-year-old political refugee. Other pieces of music will include a hymn written by a professor at Albright’s alma mater, Wellesley College. Trumpeter Chris Botti and pianist Herbie Hancock will perform.
Foreign leaders present will include Salome Zurabishvili, President of Georgia; Vyosa Osmani-Sadriu, President of Kosovo; Bisera Turkovic, Bosnia’s foreign minister; Milos Vistrcil, President of the Czech Senate; and Jan Lipavski, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
Albright’s supporters will be former members of its security forces and its diplomatic security service when she was the US ambassador to the United Nations.
Other high-profile figures will include Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, former Vice President Al Gore, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and and the minority in the Senate. Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Along with a large, bipartisan group of members of Congress.
Madeleine Albright’s “Diplomacy with Pins” continues to live in the State Department Museum
In a speech Tuesday, Pelosi recalled Albright as a dear personal friend as well as a stateswoman.
“She was the national security champion in our country,” Pelosi said. “She was the embodiment of the American dream, her family came when she was 11, refugees on our shores. Her personal story is the creation of novels, movies and more. But she was fresh and lively, and she really had a sense of humor, which was wonderful.
Vice President Harris was also scheduled to attend, but she tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday and isolated herself at home.
Matt Wiser contributed to this report.
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