Algerian-Roman theologian and writer Augustine of Hippo, also known as Saint Augustine, was BOTD in 354. Born in the Roman province of Numidia (in modern-day Algeria) to a Romanised Berber family, he was sent to Carthage (now in Tunisia) to be educated. He lived a hedonistic lifestyle, describing himself later as a “slave to lust“. After teaching rhetoric for many years, he moved to Milan where he converted to Christianity. Ordained as a priest in 391, he became a famous preacher and theologian, and was appointed Bishop of Hippo. He is best known for his Confessions, published in 400, describing his many affairs with women, his intense love for a male friend (with whom he felt “that my soul and his soul were one soul in two bodies“), his suicidal grief over his friend’s death and his conversion to Christianity. Now considered a cornerstone of Western philosophy and Christianity, it was also a milestone in the genre of confessional memoir. Like many former sex addicts turned religious zealots, Augustine condemned vices he had once enjoyed, popularising the idea of “original sin”, arguing that all sexual intercourse, even within marriage, perpetuated the evil of lust and arguing for celibacy as “the better way“. He was one of the first theologians to argue that the city of Sodom was destroyed for the sin of homosexuality, and condemned sodomy along with his own “past foulnesses and carnal corruptions“. Not without a sense of humour, he also opined, “God, give me chastity and moderation — but not yet.” Surprisingly, he encouraged tolerance for intersex people, arguing that “he who cannot see the whole is offended by the deformity of the part, because he is blind to that which balances it, and to which it belongs.” He died in 430 aged 75, and was hailed as a saint by popular acclaim. He was formally canonised in 1298 and recognised as a Doctor of the Church for his contributions to Christian theology. Given his Berber origins, he was traditionally represented as being dark-skinned, though his image became whitewashed during the Renaissance.