Olaudah Equiano

c. 1745 – 31 March 1797

Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745-1797), also known as Gustavus Vassa, was a writer and abolitionist who, according to his memoir, was born in the Igbo region of present-day Nigeria and enslaved as a child. After purchasing his freedom in 1766, he settled in London, where his 1789 autobiography The Interesting Narrative became a bestseller and a powerful text in the British movement to abolish the slave trade.

Comparing
Compare

Lived at the same time

Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Olaudah Equiano.

Life events

Born, by his own account in the Kingdom of Benin region (present-day Nigeria)
c. 1745

According to his autobiography, Equiano was born around 1745 in the Igbo village of Essaka; some scholars have debated his birthplace.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Purchased by Royal Navy officer Michael Pascal
c. 1754

Lieutenant Michael Pascal bought him, renamed him Gustavus Vassa, and took him to sea during the Seven Years' War.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Other ✓
Kidnapped and sold into the Atlantic slave trade
c. 1756

By his account he was kidnapped as a child with his sister and eventually transported across the Atlantic to Barbados and then Virginia.

Other ?
Baptized at St Margaret's Church, Westminster
February 1759

Equiano was baptized in London in February 1759 while in Pascal's service.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Personal ✓
Sold to merchant Robert King in the Caribbean
1763

After Pascal sold him, Equiano came into the service of Quaker merchant Robert King, for whom he traded and saved money.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Other ✓
Purchased his own freedom
1766

Equiano bought his freedom from Robert King in 1766 for forty pounds.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Personal ✓
Settled in London and joined the abolitionist movement
c. 1777

He settled in London, worked at sea and in trade, and became active with abolitionists including the Sons of Africa group.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Relocation ✓
Published The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
1789

His autobiography, published in London in 1789, became a bestseller and an influential text of the abolition movement.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Married Susannah Cullen
7 April 1792

Equiano married Susannah Cullen, an Englishwoman from Cambridgeshire, on 7 April 1792; they had two daughters.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Relationship ✓
Died in London
31 March 1797

Olaudah Equiano died in London on 31 March 1797.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓