Ly-Tall was born into a political family, being a descendant of El Hadj Umar Tall, founder of the Toucouleur Empire and her father was a member of the Sudanese Progressive Party (PSP).
She received her schooling in Koutiala from 1947 to 1952 before enrolling in a four-year course at the Modern College of Young Women in Bamako.
In Dakar she published works such as Contribution à l'histoire de l'Empire du Mali (XIIe-XVIe siècles) : limites, principales provinces, institutions politiques in 1977 and Un Islam militant en Afrique de l'ouest au XIXE Siecle in 1991.
[2][1] While in Dakar her family became involved with the Malian Party for the Revolution and Democracy (PMRD) and various groups within the National Democratic and Popular Front (FNDP).
She returned to Mali during the 1991 Malian revolution, where she was appointed vice-president of the National Conference just as the new democratic regime was being drafted.