O. Rudolph Aggrey | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Ambassador toRomania | |
| In office November 22, 1977 – July 11, 1981 | |
| President | Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Harry George Barnes Jr. |
| Succeeded by | David B. Funderburk |
| United States Ambassador toSenegal | |
| In office January 17, 1974 – July 10, 1977 | |
| President | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Gilbert Edward Clark |
| Succeeded by | Herman Jay Cohen |
| United States Ambassador toThe Gambia | |
| In office January 17, 1974 – July 10, 1977 | |
| President | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Gilbert Edward Clark |
| Succeeded by | Herman Jay Cohen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Orison Rudolph Aggrey (1926-07-24)July 24, 1926 |
| Died | April 6, 2016(2016-04-06) (aged 89) Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. |
| Spouse | Françoise Christiane Fratacci |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | Hampton University Syracuse University |
O. Rudolph Aggrey (July 24, 1926 – April 6, 2016) was an Americandiplomat who served as the United StatesAmbassador toSenegal,Gambia, andRomania.[1]
Orison Rudolph Guggisberg Aggrey was born in 1926 inSalisbury, North Carolina as the youngest of four children to Dr.James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey, an immigrant from theGold Coast and later the co-Founder ofAchimota School, and Rosebud Aggrey (née Douglass).[2]
He graduated in 1946 from Hampton Institute (nowHampton University) as valedictorian and received hismaster's degree fromSyracuse University in 1948.[2] He was a member ofAlpha Phi Alpha, the first Black intercollegiateGreek letter fraternity.[3] From 1947 to 1950, Aggrey was a publicity assistant for theUnited Negro College Fund.[4]
Aggrey tried to join theForeign Service in 1950, but encountered difficulty despite his high marks on the test. He was able to get a position afterGeorge L. P. Weaver, then Assistant Secretary of Labor for International Affairs, interceded on his behalf.[2] In the Foreign Service, Aggrey worked inLagos,Lille, andHanoi.[2] While in Lille, the head of theU.S. Information Service (USIA) recommended Aggrey to come to Paris and start a cultural program. The American Cultural Center was very successful.[2]
In 1960,Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs,G. Mennen Williams, asked Aggrey to accompany him on a tour of the African continent.[2] Aggrey then became one of Williams's key assistants and aided in the foreign policy concerning Africa for theKennedy administration.[2]
After marrying Françoise Christiane Fratacci in 1964, Aggrey took a leave of the Foreign Service for a year to work as a fellow at theCenter for International Affairs atHarvard University.[5] One of his professors there wasDr. Henry Kissinger.[2] Aggrey returned to the State Department and served in various supervisory positions including chief of the French branch ofVoice of America, Deputy Director of the USIA, and program manager of the USIA's Motion Pictures and Television Service.[4]
In 1971, Aggrey was promoted to head the State Department's Office of West African Affairs. He was then appointed to beU.S. ambassador to The Gambia andSenegal concurrently.[6] He lived inDakar during his tenure. He was the only U.S. ambassador at the time with direct familial ties to the country they served in.[5]
In 1977,PresidentJimmy Carter nominated Aggrey to be Ambassador Extraordinary andplenipotentiary of theU.S. to Romania. In Bucharest, he met Nobel Prize winning authorSaul Bellow in December 1978 who asked for assistance in dealing with Romanian red-tape his Romanian-born wife,Alexandra Bellow, was experiencing while visiting her very ill mother in a Romanian hospital. Bellow portrayed Aggrey in chapter four of his novelThe Dean's December, published in 1982, describing the ambassador as "discreet, soft-spoken, almost gentle, mysteriously earnest, handsome black man."[7]
Aggrey retired from the State Department in 1981.[5] He taught at several universities after, includingGeorgetown University andHoward University. He died in April 2016 at the age of 89.[8]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | U.S. Ambassador to Gambia 1973 – 1977 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. Ambassador to Senegal 1973 – 1977 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. Ambassador to Romania 1977 – 1981 | Succeeded by |