Olivier Le Jeune (died May 10, 1654) was an Afro-Canadian man noted as the first recorded slave purchased in New France.[1][2]
Olivier Le Jeune | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1621 |
| Died | 1654 (aged 32–33) |
| Occupation | servant |
| Known for | first African slave sold in Quebec |
Background
editOlivier was born in Madagascar. Although he was a black African, he may have also been of partial Malay ancestry, which would have been quite common as Madagascar had been originally settled by diverse peoples of Southeast Asia and Oceania as well as Africa.
He is believed to have been approximately seven years of age when he was brought to the French colonial settlement of Quebec in New France by English privateer David Kirke or one of his brothers, Lewis and Thomas Kirke, during their capture of the settlement.[3] Shortly afterwards, the boy was sold to Olivier Le Baillif, a French clerk in the pay of the expeditionary force which captured the settlement.
When Quebec was handed back to the French in 1632, Le Baillif left the colony and gave his slave to a Quebec resident, Guillemette Couillard.[1][2] The boy was educated in a school established by the Jesuit priest Paul Le Jeune. In 1632, the boy said to Fr Le Jeune, "You say that by baptism I shall be like you: I am black and you are white, I must have my skin taken off to be like you." Nevertheless, Fr Le Jeune baptised him Catholic with the name Olivier in 1633, after the colony's head clerk, Olivier Letardif. Olivier later adopted the name Le Jeune, the surname of the Jesuit priest.[4]
Olivier Le Jeune died on 10 May 1654.[1][2] It is believed that by the time of his death his official status was changed from that of slave to that of free "domestic servant".
Legacy
editLe Jeune was designated a National Historic Person by Parks Canada in 2022. A commemorative plaque is located at Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site, 175 de l'Espinay Street, Québec.[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c
Marcel Trudel. "Le Jeune, Olivier, a servant of Guillaume Couillard". DictMionary of Canadian Biography.
We do not know whether Couillard treated him as a slave or set him free, for in the burial register Olivier is listed as a servant. No text certifies that he was a slave. His situation may very well have been the same as that of the Indian girls Charité and Espérance, whom Champlain was unable to obtain permission to take to France and whom Couillard adopted.
- ^ a b c
Ethel M. G. Bennett. "Hebert, Guillemette (Couillard de Lespinay), daughter of Louis Hébert and Marie Rollet". Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
They must have formed part of a cosmopolitan household, for it contained also Olivier Le Jeune, a black boy from Madagascar brought up the river by the English, sold to Olivier Le Baillif, and given by him to the Couillard family.
- ^ "Black History Canada Timeline". Black History Canada. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
- ^ Winks, Robin W. (1971). The Blacks in Canada : a history. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 0-300-01361-2. OCLC 140347.
- ^ Parks Canada Agency, Government of Canada (2023-10-13). "Olivier Le Jeune — National Historic Person - Olivier Le Jeune National Historic Person". parks.canada.ca. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
External links
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