Madeleine Albright proved herself to be one of America's most able diplomats

In an almost exclusively male environment she gave as good as she got and stood firmly by her convictions, earning widespread respect, even as the US battled critics of its foreign policy.

This week on One on One, we meet the former US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright.
 
She was born in what was then the Czechoslovakian capital Prague in 1937 and raised as a Roman Catholic by her parents, who had converted from Judaism to escape persecution from the Nazis.

She was close to her diplomat father Josef, eventually following in his footsteps in pursuing a dipomatic career.

She was granted US citizenship in 1957 and in the following years her Slavic language skills served her well as she proved herself to be one of the country's most able diplomats, culminating in her becoming secretary of state under Bill Clinton fom 1997 - 2001.