Alex Duval Smith obituary

Foreign correspondent with a knowledge and love of Africa who worked for the Guardian, the Independent and the BBC

The journalist Alex Duval Smith, who has died of cancer aged 55, was a free spirit with a remarkable gift for connecting with others across social, language or cultural barriers.

For more than two decades she worked as a reporter and correspondent in European and African countries, for the Guardian, the Independent, the Observer, the BBC, Radio France International and France 24. She had a deep knowledge of and love for Africa and was a citizen of the world - with two nationalities and three languages; she had lived in almost a dozen countries.