Olivier Le Jeune (died ) was the first recorded
slave
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
purchased in
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
.
[
Olivier was a young boy from ]Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
, believed to have been approximately seven years of age when he was brought to the French colonial settlement of Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
in New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
by Scottish privateer David Kirke
Sir David Kirke ( – 1654), also spelt David Ker, was an adventurer, privateer and colonial governor. He is best known for his successful capture of Québec in 1629 during the Thirty Years' War and his subsequent governorship of lands in Newfo ...
or one of his brothers, Lewis and Thomas Kirke during their capture of the settlement on behalf of the English Crown. Shortly afterwards, the boy was sold to Olivier Le Baillif, a French clerk in the pay of the expeditionary force which captured the settlement.
When Quebec was handed back to the French in 1632, Le Baillif left the colony and gave his slave to a Quebec resident, Guillemette Couillard
Guillemette may refer to:
People
* Alphonse-Edgar Guillemette (1877–1950), Canadian politician
* Éloi Guillemette (1911–1984), Canadian politician
* Hélène Guillemette, Canadian politician
* Joanne Guillemette, U.S. politician
* Nancy ...
.[ The boy was educated in a school established by the Jesuit priest, Father Le Jeune. In 1632, the boy said to Father Le Jeune: "You say that by baptism I shall be like you: I am black and you are white, I must have my skin taken off to be like you." Nevertheless, Father Le Jeune baptised him as Olivier in 1633, after the colony's head clerk, Olivier Letardif. Olivier later adopted the name Le Jeune, the surname of the Jesuit priest.][ It is believed that by the time of his death his official status was changed from that of slave to that of free "domestic servant".
Although he is often referred to as a black African from ]Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
, he may have been of partial Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
ancestry, which would have been quite common owing to the fact that Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
had been originally settled by diverse peoples of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
and Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
as well as Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
See also
* Black Canadian
Black Canadians (also known as Caribbean-Canadians or Afro-Canadians) are people of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin, though t ...
* List of kidnappings
The following is a list of kidnappings summarizing the events of each individual case, including instances of celebrity abductions, claimed hoaxes, suspected kidnappings, extradition abductions, and mass kidnappings.
Before 1900
1900–1949
...
* Slavery in Canada
Slavery in Canada includes both that practised by First Nations from earliest times and that under European colonization.
Britain banned the institution of slavery in present-day Canada (and British colonies) in 1833, though the practice of sl ...
* Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...
References
External links
Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
1654 deaths
1621 births
Black Canadian people
Canadian people of Malagasy descent
Canadian slaves
Kidnapped African children
Malagasy slaves
People of New France
Year of birth unknown
{{Canada-bio-stub