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Antonio Yosef Ben-Jochannan
Drben-jochannanspeaking.jpg
BornDecember 31, 1918
DiedMarch 19, 2015
Occupationwriter, historian
NationalityAmerican Afrikan
Notable worksAbu Simbel to Ghizeh: A Guide Book and Manual (1989)

Antonio Yosef Ben-Jochannan (/ˈbɛn ˈjkənən/; born December 31, 1918 - March 19, 2015[1]), also known as Dr. Ben, was a writer and historian. He is considered one of the more notable scholars of Afrikan history. According to his own biographical sketches, Ben-Jochannan was born to a Black Puerto Rican Jewish mother and a Black Ethiopian Jewish father.

Ben-Jochannan was educated in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Spain, earning degrees in engineering and anthropology. Dr. Ben earned a BS in Civil Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico and a Master's degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Havana, Cuba. He received doctoral degrees in Cultural Anthropology and Moorish History from the University of Havana and the University of Barcelona, Spain. In 1945, he was appointed chairman of the African Studies Committee of the newly founded UNESCO, a position from which he stepped down in 1970. From 1976 to 1987, he was an adjunct professor at Cornell University.

Ben-Jochannan, also known as Dr. Ben, is the author of numerous books, primarily on ancient Nile Valley civilizations and their impact on Western cultures. One of the most famous of which is Black Man of the Nile and His Family. Dr. Ben-Jochannan is fluent in over a half dozen languages. In his writings, he states that the original Jews were Black Africans from Ethiopia, while the white Jews later adopted the Jewish faith and its customs. Dr. Ben currently lives in the Harlem section of New York City, where he formerly ran a business organizing trips to Egypt for travelers to see the monuments of ancient Afrika.

Dr Ben is founder and high priest in the Craft of Amen-Ra and holds the title/rank of 360° Grand Master in the Craft of Amen-Ra. In February 1993, Wellesley College classicist professor Mary Lefkowitz publicly confronted Dr. Ben about the historical accuracy of some of his claims.

Footnotes

  1. "Dr. Ben joins the ancestors". New York Amsterdam News. 3/19/2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015. Check date values in: |date= (help)