Dr. Ivan Van Sertima is a literary critic, linguist, anthropologist, and writer.
In 1977 he wrote They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America, for which he won the Clarence L. Holte Prize for excellence in literature and the humanities relating to the cultural heritage of Africa.
He is the editor of the Journal of African Civilizations, and has edited numerous recent books including African Presence in Early America, Great African Thinkers, and Great Black Leaders: Ancient and Modern.
An author and editor, his prize-winning They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America is in its twenty-first printing;
He has defended this highly controversial thesis before the Smithsonian, which has recently published his address.
