Avraham Rabby spoke four languages, studied at Oxford, and went to the University of Chicago on a Fulbright scholarship. Born in Israel, he became an American citizen in 1980. He was intelligent, outgoing, optimistic and capable. He appeared, in other words, like an ideal candidate to be a Foreign Service officer for the State Department when he applied in 1985. Except — he was blind, a condition that ruled him out from employment in the Foreign Service.

He waged a years-long campaign to overturn the policy. In 1989, he succeeded, becoming the first blind person to be hired by the diplomatic corps, paving the way for other blind officers.

Mr. Rabby died April 17 at Tel HaShomer Hospital in Ramat Gan, Israel, near Tel Aviv. He was 77.

“A blind person sees the world differently from a sighted person,” Mr. Rabby told The New York Times in a 2007 profile. “Our impressions are no less valid.”