Louis Marie Joseph Ohier de Grandpré (May 7, 1761 - January 7, 1846) was a French naval officer and slave trader. Between 1789 and 1790, Grandpré toured the Indian Ocean, beginning at Île de France (

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

), and included visits to India, the Seychelles, Vietnam (then Cochin China), Yemen, and Sri Lanka.

Early years

Grandpré was born in

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on May 7, 1761. His father, Louis Athanase Ohier, was slave ship captain of Irish descent. His mother, Nicole Marie Louise, came from a family from the

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...

canton in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. At age six, Grandpré began school in

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

. He left school at an early age to pursue his interest in sailing, later demonstrating his ability as a sailor in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. In March 1781, while serving in Viceadmiral Pierre André de Suffren's fleet, he traveled from

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

to India, where the French engaged the British fleet. On November 29, 1783, he married Marie Thérèse de Jehannot Penquer (1762-1837) on the island of

Slave trade

Grandpré, himself a former slave trader, described violent abuses of African slaves in his ''Voyage à la côte occidentale d'Afrique'' published in 1801. In 1787 alone, Grandpré worked on ships involved in the transportation of 1,500 slaves to the Americas and witnessed "often many cruelties".

Later years

Grandpré served in the French Royal Navy for 15 years, after which lived his remaining life at the

Hotel des Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides ( en, "house of invalids"), commonly called Les Invalides (), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He died, destitute, on January 7, 1846.

Bibliography

* ''A Voyage in the Indian Ocean and to Bengal, undertaken in the Years 1789 and 1790: Containing an Account of the Sechelles Islands and Trincomale'', Paris, 1801 * ''Louis Marie Joseph Ohier de Grandpré, Abrégé élémentaire de géographie physique'', Firmin Didot, Père et Fils, 1825, 251 p. * ''Voyage à la côte occidentale d'Afrique'', Dentu, Paris, 1801

References

External links

A Voyage in the Indian Ocean and to Bengal, undertaken in the Years 1789 and 1790: Containing an Account of the Sechelles Islands and Trincomale
at

World Digital Library The World Digital Library (WDL) is an international digital library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress. The WDL has stated that its mission is to promote international and intercultural understanding, expand the volume ...

*
'Voyage à la côte occidentale d'Afrique''
at Gallica 1761 births 1841 deaths French slave traders French Navy officers from Saint-Malo Order of Saint Louis recipients {{France-mil-bio-stub