St. Mark, the writer of the Gospel of Mark book in the New Testament was an African from Libya

St. Mark was a native of the North Africa county of Libya. He was born in the city of Cyrene in Pentapolis, The western part of Libya, west of the border of Egypt. According to copticchurch.net, St. Mark was born of Jewish parents three years after the birth of Jesus Christ.

Saint Mark was born in 5 AD Cyrene, Pentapolis of North Africa, and died on 25 April 68 (aged 62–63) in Alexandria, Egypt.

According to William Lane (1974), an “unbroken tradition” identifies Mark the Evangelist with John Mark, and John Mark as the cousin of Barnabas.

However, Hippolytus of Rome in On the Seventy Apostles distinguishes Mark the Evangelist (2 Tim 4:11), John Mark (Acts 12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37), and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10; Phlm 1:24). According to Hippolytus, they all belonged to the “Seventy Disciples” who were sent out by Jesus to disseminate the gospel (Luke 10:1ff.) in Judea.

Mark the Evangelist is the traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark the second book of the New Testament. St. Mark is said to have founded the Church of Alexandria, one of the most important episcopal sees of early Christianity. His feast day is celebrated on April 25, and his symbol is the winged lion.