Théodore Canot (1804–1860) was a

slave trader The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and religions from ancient times to the present day. Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. The social, economic, and legal positions o ...

and

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- Florentine origin. Living in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, he embarked in 1819 in

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for

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never to return. From 1820 to 1840, with a talent for language practice and for commerce, he became one of the most important slave traders active between

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and the coasts of

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and

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. First embarking on merchant ships, he was quickly confronted with piracy which developed after the end of the slave trade by the nations in the

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. He then moved to the coast region of

, at the mouth of the Rio Pongo, as an employee and quickly as a trusted man and then on his own. He also made numerous journeys of convoys of cargoes of slaves to Cuba, thus recounting his races with

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"cruisers," the rebellions of slaves, mutinies, shipwrecks. Around 1840, he abandoned the slave trade to become a plantation operator in the same region. He still occasionally engaged in slave trafficking. In 1854, he wrote an account of his eventful life. It offers an interesting testimony to the slave society of the time, both Europeans and African tribes who integrated this trade into their lifestyles.

Bibliography

* Canot, Théodore. ''Les aventures d'un négrier, 1820-1840'', Éditions l'Ancre de Marine, 2008, * Capitaine Canot (pseud. Théophile Conneau
''Twenty years of the life of a slave trader''
Amyot, Paris 1854

Bibliography

Further reading