Olaudah Equiano
(1745–1797)

At the age of 11, Olaudah Equiano was kidnapped from his home in the Benin Province of present-day Nigeria and sold into slavery. The creator of the slave narrative genre, he is best known for his autobiographical work The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. When he was first captured, Equiano was sold to British slavers. In 1756, he was sent to the West Indies but then shipped to Virginia to become the personal slave of Royal Navy Lieutenant Michael Henry Pascal.

Pascal gave Equiano the name Gustavus Vassa. Spared the fate of a plantation laborer, Equiano spent the next 30 years as a servant, seaman, and trader, traveling to such places as Honduras, London, and Turkey. Through his travels, Equiano became a keen observer of the slave trade. His observations later made him an articulate spokesperson for the abolishment of slavery.

In 1763, Pascal sent Equiano back to the West Indies and sold him to Robert King, a Quaker merchant. King recognized Equiano's abilities as a merchant and, three years later, allowed Equiano to buy his own freedom for the price that King had paid for him. Equiano then went to London, where he rose to prominence in a society of free blacks. From there he lectured extensively, exposing the cruelties of the slave trade. He died in 1797, nearly 70 years before slavery was ended in the United States.

Although Equiano did not live to see its abolishment, his narrative played an important part in bringing it about. In his native Ibo language, Equiano's name means "well-spoken leader." He lived up to his name—by exposing the cruelties of slavery, he contributed to its eventual demise.

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