“The Universal Man,” “The Capital Contemporary,” “The Giant of Knowledge,” “The Last Pharaoh”: those were some of the newspaper headlines the day after the death of Senegalese historian, doctor, and politician Cheikh Anta Diop on February 7, 1986. Kemtiyu is a portrait of this trailblazing scholar—venerated by some, derided by others, and unknown to most—an honest, enlightened political figure who had an insatiable thirst for science and knowledge.