ORFILA, (WASHINGTON) ALEJANDRO

born March 9, 1925, Mendoza, Arg. Argentine diplomat who served as secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS) from 1975 to 1984. Orfila was educated at the University of Buenos Aires and at Stanford and Tulane universities in the United States. As a career diplomat, he served as secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and held diplomatic posts in Moscow, Warsaw, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C., from 1946 to 1952. In the 1950s he became active in the OAS and was director of its Office of Public Relations for five years. From 1958 to 1960 he was Argentina's minister plenipotentiary to the United States and then served as ambassador to Japan for two years. He returned to private life as a business consultant until his appointment as ambassador to the United States (197375), a post he held until he was elected head of the OAS. Orfila resigned one year before the expiration of his term.