Louis de Grandpré

Comte de Grandpré
1803 engraving by Conrad Westermayr
Born(1761-05-07)May 7, 1761
Saint-Malo, France
DiedJanuary 7, 1846(1846-01-07) (aged 84)
Paris, France
AllegianceKingdom of France
Service/branchRoyal Navy
RankCaptain
AwardsOrder of Saint Louis
Spouse(s)Marie Thérèse de Jehannot Penquer

Louis Marie Joseph Ohier de Grandpré (May 7, 1761 - January 7, 1846) was a French naval officer and slave trader.[1]: 204  Between 1789 and 1790, Grandpré toured the Indian Ocean, beginning at Île de France (Mauritius), and included visits to India, the Seychelles, Vietnam (then Cochin China), Yemen, and Sri Lanka.[2]

Early years

Grandpré was born in Saint-Malo, France on May 7, 1761.[3] 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 American Revolutionary War.

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 (1762-1837) 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 worked on ships involved in the transportation of 1,500 slaves to the Americas and witnessed "often many cruelties".[1]: 204 

Later years

Grandpré served in the French 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.[3][4]

Bibliography

  • A Voyage in the Indian Ocean and to Bengal, undertaken in the Years 1789 and 1790: Containing an Account of the Sechelles Islands and Trincomale, Paris, 1801
  • Louis Marie Joseph Ohier de Grandpré, Abrégé élémentaire de géographie physique, Firmin Didot, Père et Fils, 1825, 251 p.
  • Voyage à la côte occidentale d'Afrique, Dentu, Paris, 1801

References

  1. 1 2 Christopher L., Miller (2008). The French Atlantic Triangle: Literature and Culture of the Slave Trade. Duke University Press Books. p. 592. ISBN 978-0822341512. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  2. ↑ "A Voyage in the Indian Ocean and to Bengal, undertaken in the Years 1789 and 1790: Containing an Account of the Sechelles Islands and Trincomale". World Digital Library. May 24, 2012. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  3. 1 2 Ripley, George & Dana, Charles Anderson (2010). The New American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge. Vol. 8. Nabu Press. pp. 410–411. ISBN 978-1146913317.
  4. ↑ Joseph, Thomas (2009). The Universal Dictionary of Biography and Mythology, Clu-hys. ISBN 978-1616400712.


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