Samuel de Missy (Samuel, Pierre, Joseph, David de Missy or Demissy, 30 October 1755 – 20 October 1820) was a French trader and businessman, from the city of

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

, where he was born. He enriched himself by selling clothes to slaving expeditions setting off for islands such as

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...

, where La Rochelle ''armateurs'' owned plantations.''The French Atlantic: Travels in Culture and History'' by Bill Marshall p.59-60
/ref> Although a participant in and beneficiary of the

slave trade 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 ...

, de Missy disputed the legitimacy of enslavement, and joined the "

Société des amis des noirs The Society of the Friends of the Blacks (''Société des amis des Noirs'' or ''Amis des noirs'') was a French abolitionist society founded during the late 18th century. The society's aim was to abolish both the institution of slavery in the F ...

" ("Society of the friends of the Blacks"). He was much attacked for his positions in his own city, and finally had to recant his abolitionist stance for fear of damaging the economy of the city. He became a representative at the Assemblée Nationale Constituante (Parliament, "National Constituent Assembly") in 1789.http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/sycomore/liste_legislature.asp?legislature=1&Type=L The slave trade of La Rochelle ended with the event of the French Revolution and the war with England in the 1790s, the last La Rochelle slave ship, the ''Saint-Jacques'' was captured in 1793 in the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the ...

. With the

Law of 4 February 1794 The Law of 4 February 1794 was a decree of the French National Convention which abolished slavery in all French colonies. Background In 1789, the abolitionist '' Amis des noirs'' society was established in France. It was more radical than simi ...

, the National Convention effectively freed all colonial slaves. The Collège Samuel de Missy in La Rochelle is named after him.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Missy, Samuel de People from La Rochelle 1755 births 1820 deaths 18th-century French businesspeople 19th-century French businesspeople Mayors of La Rochelle