Olaudah Equiano was born in 1745 in the Igbo region of the Kingdom of Benin (now south-eastern Nigeria).
After purchasing his freedom around the age of 20, Equiano sailed to Britain and continued to work as a merchant and explorer. He became a leading member of the Sons of Africa, a small abolitionist group composed of free Africans in London, and a prominent figure in academia and political circles. Following the success of his autobiography, he toured England, Scotland, and Ireland to lecture on the horrors he faced in slavery.
In 1792, he married an English woman, Susannah Cullen, with whom he had two daughters.
Equiano died in 1797 in Westminster.
