bio notes:
died: 3/31/1797
born as: Olaudah Equiano

Igbo who was sold into slavery and later freed. His autobiography, The Interesting Harrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African (1789), with a strong abolitionist stance and an interesting and detailed description of his youth in Africa, was so popular that by 1794 it had run through eight English editions and once American edition. Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature