Gaou Guinou was an African prince who has been claimed to be the grandfather of famed Haitian revolutionary

Toussaint L’Ouverture François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (, ) also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda (20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803), was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louvertu ...

. He may have been in the royal family of

Allada Allada is a town, arrondissement, and commune, located in the Atlantique Department of Benin. The current town of Allada corresponds to Great Ardra (also called Grand Ardra, or Arda), which was the capital of a Fon kingdom also called Allada ...

as well as a member of the

Fon people The Fon people, also called Dahomeans, Fon nu, Agadja and historically called Jeji (Djedji) by the Yoruba in the South American diaspora and in colonial French literature are a Gbe ethnic group.

. He was reportedly captured and enslaved by his brother, Hussar, and his wife, Queen Aitta in 1724. According to the autobiography of L’Ouverture, Gaou Guinou was born around the year 1698 and lived to be over 105 years old. According to Haitian oral traditions, Gaou Guinou's father, Soso, died in 1724 and left two sons to fight for the succession: Hussar and Gaou Guinou. Hussar fled to

Abomey Agbome or Abomey is the capital of the Zou Department of Benin. The commune of Abomey covers an area of 142 square kilometres and, as of 2012, had a population of 90,195 people. Abomey houses the Royal Palaces of Abomey, a collection of small tr ...

while Gaou Guinou, the younger brother, took power of

Great Ardra The Kingdom of Ardra, also known as the Kingdom of Allada, was a coastal West African kingdom in southern Benin. While historically a sovereign kingdom, in present times the monarchy continues to exist as a non-sovereign monarchy within the repub ...

. Hussar then allied himself with

Agaja Agaja (also spelled Agadja and also known as Trudo Agaja or Trudo Audati) was a King of Dahomey, king of the Kingdom of Dahomey, in present-day Benin, who ruled from 1718 until 1740. He came to the throne after his brother Akaba of Dahomey, King A ...

, the ruler of

Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African List of kingdoms in Africa throughout history, kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in ...

, and returned to battle his brother for the throne thereafter. He was ultimately victorious, and sold Gaou Guinou into slavery after his capture. The former king is said to have eventually arrived in today's

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

, where he soon started a family. This family is believed to be the family of L’Ouverture. Whilst still constrained to the life of a slave, Guinou nevertheless enjoyed certain privileges within the confines of his owners' estate. This included being allocated a portion of land and the labour of five enslaved Africans to work it.

References

African royalty {{Africa-royal-stub