Olaudah Equiano: Celebrated Abolitionist and Author Honored by Google Doodle on His 272nd Birth Anniversary

Olaudah Equiano was featured on Google’s Doodle on October 16, 2017, to commemorate his contributions as a significant figure in the abolitionist movement and to mark the 272nd anniversary of his birth.

It’s almost 7 years the Igbo abolitionist, Equiano was celebrated for his powerful autobiography, “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”, which exposed the horrors of slavery and played a crucial role in advancing the abolitionist cause in Britain.

Olaudah Equiano, born in 1745 in what is now Ashaka, Ndokwa East, Delta State, Nigeria. He was captured as a child and sold into slavery. He endured the brutal transatlantic slave trade, eventually ending up in the Caribbean and later in Britain.

After purchasing his freedom in 1766, Equiano became an active abolitionist, author, and speaker. His autobiography, published in 1789, detailed his experiences as a slave and his journey to freedom. It became a powerful tool in the abolitionist movement, helping to shift public opinion against slavery. Equiano died in 1797, but his legacy as a pioneer of the abolitionist cause lives on.

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Historical context

Equiano, O. (1789). The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African.