Former V&A Museum director Martin Roth dies at 62

BERLIN (AP) - Martin Roth, a German academic and curator who was a former director of Britain's Victoria & Albert Museum, has died. He was 62.

Roth led the art and design museum between 2011 and 2016, overseeing hugely popular exhibitions including shows devoted to designer Alexander McQueen and pop icon David Bowie.

Roth was "a committed Europhile and cultural ambassador" who "made it his mission to raise the international profile of the museum," V&A chairman Nicholas Coleridge said in a statement Monday.

When he stepped down last year, Roth criticized Britain's decision to leave the European Union, saying it was "destroying the future of our children."

Roth died Sunday in Berlin following an unspecified illness, German news agency dpa said.

Before taking the helm at the V&A, he spent a decade as director of the Dresden State Art Collections in Germany, and he had recently become president of Germany's Institute for Foreign Relations.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Roth had set "new benchmarks" during his career as a museum director.

"He was committed to cultural cooperation, and communication across language, political and cultural borders like no other," Gabriel said.