O. Rudolph Aggrey

Orison Rudolph Aggrey was born on July 24, 1926 in Salisbury, North Carolina.  His friends and family called him by his middle name Rudolph  or  Rudy .  He was the youngest of four children of the late Dr. James Emman Kwegyir and Rose Rudolph Douglass. His sisters and brother proceeded him in death.  He earned a B.S. degree from Hampton Institute, where he was valedictorian in 1946, and an M.S. in journalism from Syracuse University in 1948.   He worked as a journalist for a few years until he was accepted into the foriegn service in 1951. This work took him all over the world.

On November 5, 1966 he married the love of his life Françoise Christiane Fratacci, with whom he was married until his death on April 6, 2016. He took a year off leave from the foriegn service to become a fellow at the center for international affairs at Harvard University.  

Upon his return to foreign service he became chief of the French branch of Voices of America.  Later he became the  Ambassador to  Gambia and Senegal (1973 - 1977). He was the only ambassador at the time with familial attachments to the continent.  He later became  Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Romania (1977 - 1981).

In 1981 he retired from the State Department, he then went on to work at several universities including Georgetown University and Howard University. He remained active in his community with groups like the Sigma Pi Phi,  Alpha Phi Alpha,  the Federal City Club and the Association of Black American Ambassadors.

Rudolph had a passion for music especially jazz. He loved learning about different people and their cultures.  He was a student of history until the end of his life.

He leaves to cherish his wife Françoise Christiane, his daughter Roxane Rose, daughter in law Téaura T.  Rollock and numerous relatives and friends.

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