Olaudah Equiano

Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745–1797) was an African-born writer and abolitionist who became one of the most influential voices against slavery in the 18th century. Kidnapped at age eleven from present-day Nigeria and enslaved in the Caribbean and North America, he eventually purchased his freedom and became a prominent activist. His 1789 autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, became the first internationally popular slave narrative and played a crucial role in the passage of the British Slave Trade Act of 1807.