Lamin Sanneh was born in a tiny river town in Gambia on May 24, 1942. He was born a Muslim but converted to Christianity as a teenager and became a practicing Roman Catholic. He received a bachelor's degree in history from Union College, a master's degree from the University of Birmingham, and a doctorate in Islamic history from the University of London. He held teaching posts at the University of Ghana, the University of Aberdeen, and Harvard Divinity School. He taught at Yale Divinity School and Yale University for 30 years. He was a naturalized United States citizen.
He became a scholar of Christianity and Islam. He was the author or editor of more than 20 books including Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture, Abolitionists Abroad: American Blacks and the Making of Modern West Africa, Summoned from the Margin: Homecoming of an African, and Beyond Jihad: The Pacifist Tradition in West African Islam. He died from complications of a stroke on January 6, 2019 at the age of 76.
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