Elizabeth Cronin, 63; Embassy Staffer Held Hostage in Iran
Elizabeth Ann Swift Cronin, 63, one of two women held hostage for 444 days after the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, in 1979, died Friday in a horseback riding accident near Rectortown, Va.
Cronin was the ranking political officer at the embassy when Iranian students angered by American policies seized the compound.
She and Kathryn Koob, then director of the Iran-American Society, were kept largely separated from the 50 men also taken captive.
After her release in January 1981, Cronin spent a year at Harvard’s Center for International Affairs before continuing her State Department career with postings in Greece, Jamaica and London. She also served as a deputy assistant secretary of state for overseas citizens services. She retired in 1995.
The Washington Post quoted a family friend as saying Cronin was riding with her husband, Paul, when her horse stumbled after a jump and she fell from the saddle.
A native of Washington, D.C., Cronin graduated from Radcliffe College in 1962.
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