The Life of Columba (Latin: Vita Columbae) is a hagiography recounting the life of Columba, the founder of Iona Abbey, written a century after Columba's death by Adomnán, one of his successors as Abbot of Iona.

Adomnán (also known as Eunan), served as the ninth Abbot of Iona until his death in 704. James Earle Fraser asserts that Adomnán drew extensively from an existing body of accounts regarding the life of Columba, including a Latin collection entitled De uirtutibus sancti Columbae, composed c. 640 A.D. This earlier work is attributed to Cummene Find, who became the Abbot of Iona and served as the leader of the monastic island community from 656 until his death in 668 or 669 A.D.

While the Vita Columbae often conflicts with contemporaneous accounts of various battles, figures, and dates, it remains the most important surviving work from early medieval Scotland and provides a wealth of knowledge regarding the Picts and other ethnic and political groups from this time period. The Vita also offers a valuable insight into the monastic practices of Iona and the daily life of the early medieval Gaelic monks.

The Life of Columba is a hagiography written in the style of "saint's lives" narratives that had become widespread throughout medieval Europe. Compiled and drafted by scribes and clergymen, these accounts were written in Latin and served as written collections of the deeds and miracles attributed to the saint, both during his or her life or after death. Columba was acknowledged as a saint, thanks to the vigorous promotion of his memory, within years of his death. This was long before official 'canonization' proceedings ever took place at Rome, so Columba has never actually been canonized by Roman authorities in the way that became common later in the Middle Ages.

It was probably written between 697 and 700. The format borrows to some extent from Sulpicius Severus' Life of Saint Martin of Tours. Adomnán presents Columba as comparable to a hero in Gaelic mythology. One of the motivations for writing the Vita may have been to offer Columba as a model for the monks. The biography is by far the most important surviving work written in early medieval Scotland, and is a vital source for our knowledge of the Picts, as well as a great insight into the life of Iona and the early medieval Gaelic monks.

The surviving manuscripts include:

Instead of relying on chronological order, Adomnán categorises the events recorded in the Vita Columbae into three different books: Columba's Prophecies, Columba's Miracles, and Columba's Angelic Visions.

In the first book, the author Adomnán lists Columba's prophetic revelations, which come as a result of his ability to view the present and the future simultaneously. Most of the short chapters begin with Columba informing his fellow monks that a person will soon arrive on the island or an event will imminently occur.