Orison Rudolph Aggrey (July 24, 1926 – April 6, 2016) was an American

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

who served as the United States

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

, and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Aggrey was born in 1926 in

Salisbury, North Carolina Salisbury is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, United States; it has been the county seat of Rowan County since 1753 when its territory extended to the Mississippi River. Located northeast of Charlotte and within its metropolita ...

as the youngest of four children to Dr.

James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey (18 October 1875 – 30 July 1927) was an intellectual, missionary, and teacher. He was born in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) and later emigrated to the United States, but returned to Africa for several years. He was th ...

, an immigrant from the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

and later the co-Founder of

Achimota School Achimota School ( /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The school wa ...

, and Rosebud Aggrey (). He died in April 2016 at the age of 89. He graduated in 1946 from Hampton Institute (now

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...

) and received his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in 1948. In 1977,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

nominated Aggrey to be Ambassador Extraordinary and

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word ...

of the U.S. to Romania. In Bucharest, he met Nobel Prize winning author

Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only wr ...

in December 1978 who asked for assistance in dealing with Romanian red-tape his Romanian-born wife,

Alexandra Bellow Alexandra Bellow (née Bagdasar; previously Ionescu Tulcea; born 30 August 1935) is a Romanian-American mathematician, who has made contributions to the fields of ergodic theory, probability and analysis. Biography Bellow was born in Bucharest ...

, was experiencing while visiting her very ill mother in a Romanian hospital. Bellow portrayed Aggrey in chapter four of his novel ''

The Dean's December ''The Dean's December'' is a 1982 novel by the American author Saul Bellow. Setting The first novel Bellow published after winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1976, it is set in Chicago and Bucharest. Plot The book's main character, Albert ...

'', published in 1982, describing the ambassador as "discreet, soft-spoken, almost gentle, mysteriously earnest, handsome black man" (p. 58).

References

External links

O. Rudolph Aggrey Nomination of United States Ambassador to Romania.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aggrey, Orison Rudolph 1926 births 2016 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to the Gambia Ambassadors of the United States to Senegal Ambassadors of the United States to Romania American people of Ghanaian descent United States Foreign Service personnel Hampton University alumni Syracuse University alumni People from Salisbury, North Carolina 20th-century American diplomats