Yosef Alfredo Antonio Ben-Jochannan (; December 31, 1918 – March 19, 2015), referred to by his admirers as "Dr. Ben", was an American writer and historian. He was considered to be one of the more prominent Afrocentric scholars by some Black Nationalists, while most mainstream scholars, such as Mary Lefkowitz, dismissed him because of the basic historical inaccuracies in his work, as well as disputes about the authenticity of his educational degrees and academic credentials. Early life and education Ben-Jochannan stated that he was born in Ethiopia to a Puerto Rican Jewish mother and an Ethiopian Jewish father. Other sources say that he "was probably Puerto Rican but claimed to be of Ethiopian Jewish extraction." A New York Times article published after Ben-Jochannan's death said: "[T]here is little evidence for that other than his own word; some peers, and even a family member, have privately expressed doubts." Ben-Jochannan's academic record is disputed, with claims he was educated variously in Puerto Rico, Brazil, Cuba, or Spain, earning degrees in either engineering and/or anthropology. In 1938, he is said to have earned a BS in Civil Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico; this is disputed as the registrar has no record of his attendance. He stated that in 1939 he earned a master's degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Havana, Cuba. He also claimed to have earned doctoral degrees (PhD) in Cultural Anthropology and Moorish History from the University of Havana and the University of Barcelona, Spain, respectively, and advanced degrees from Cambridge University in England. Both Barcelona and Cambridge say that he never received a degree from either university and, furthermore, Cambridge University said it had no record of Ben-Jochannan ever attending any classes there. According to his obituary, Ben-Jochannan holds honorary doctoral degrees from Sojourner–Douglass College (Baltimore), Marymount College (New York), and Medgar Evers College (Brooklyn). The New York Times article also discussed the lifelong inconsistencies in his reported academic record: Career and later life Accounts agree on little else other than that Ben-Jochannan was raised in the Caribbean and immigrated to the United States about 1940, where he reportedly worked as a draftsman and continued his studies. He later stated that in 1945, he was appointed chairman of the African Studies Committee at the headquarters of the newly founded UNESCO. He said he worked for them until 1970. However, UNESCO staff state that they have "no