Louis de Grandpré


Louis Marie Joseph Ohier de Grandpré was a French navy officer and former slave trader. Between 1789 and 1790, Grandpré toured the Indian Ocean, beginning at Île de France, and included visits to India, the Seychelles, Vietnam, Yemen, and Sri Lanka.

Early years

Grandpré was born in Saint-Malo, France on May 7, 1761. His father, Louis Athanase Ohier, was slave ship captain of Irish descent. His mother, Nicole Marie Louise, came from a family from the Valais canton in Switzerland. At age six, Grandpré began school in Rennes. He left school at an early age to pursue his interest in sailing, later demonstrating his ability as a sailor in the war with England.
In March 1781, while serving in Viceadmiral Pierre André de Suffren's fleet, he traveled from Brest to India, where the French engaged the British fleet.
On November 29, 1783, he married Marie Thérèse de Jehannot Penquer on the island of Mauritius.

Slave trade

Grandpré, himself a former slave trader, described violent abuses of African slaves in his Voyage à la côte occidentale d'Afrique published in 1801. In 1787 alone, Grandpré traded 1500 slaves and witnessed "often many cruelties".

Later years

Grandpré served in the Royal Navy for 15 years, after which lived his remaining life at the Hotel des Invalides in Paris. He died, destitute, on January 7, 1846.