Leonard E. Barrett Senior (1920 in Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica – June 3, 2007 in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania)[1] was a Jamaican-American professor of religion and anthropology known for his foundational work on Rastafari.
[2] He received a bachelor's degree from Albright College, then was the pastor of an evangelical church in Pennsylvania.
[2] His dissertation, completed at Temple University, was published as The Rastafarians: a study of Messianic cultism in Jamaica in 1969.
[6] His book The Rastafarians: the Dreadlocks of Jamaica was reviewed favorably in the 1970s by academics and has become one of the standard anthropological examinations of the religious movement.
[11] His life inspired one of his sons, Terry Lee Barrett, to write a semi-autobiographical novel based on the stories his father told him about Jamaican religion and spirituality.