The fact that the few candidates who competed for the title of the world’s first professional female ambassador were all delegated by extraordinarily short-lived governments, and all quietly forgotten by posterity is symbolic. Among them, Alexandra Kollontai (1872-1952) representing the Soviet Union, was who made it into (some of) the official accounts as the first ever female ambassador. Kollontai served in Norway in 1923, Mexico between 1926-27 and Sweden from 1930 until 1945 as the ambassador of a country that lacked international recognition. The fate of the other three "first" female ambassadors was similar to Kollontai’s. Armenian writer Diana Abgar (1859-1937) was the ambassador of the first Armenian Republic in Japan from 1918 to 1920. The Hungarian professional feminist Rozsa Schwimmer (1877-1948) served as the representative of the revolutionary Karolyi-government in Switzerland between 1918-1919. Also in Switzerland was Jadvyga Chodakauskaite-Tubeliene (1891-1998), an activist in the women’s movement, who set up the Lithuanian mission in 1918-1919. In the tight grip of hegemonic powers and among geopolitical constraints, these "first" female ambassadors were also struggling with their greatest disadvantage: they were women. Kollontai as a representative of the Soviet Union excellently capitalized her sense of humor, her erudition and her polyglottism during various negotations, inspiring the movie Ninochka (1939) starring Greta Garbo. The story of these "firsts" helps us to understand why the presence of women in the diplomatic service of Visegrad Four is still so meager.