author
André-Daniel Laffon de Ladébat
1746–1829
A merchant’s son from Bordeaux who became a leading voice against slavery, he moved between business, politics, and public reform during one of France’s most turbulent eras. His life joined Enlightenment ideals with firsthand experience in finance, government, and exile.
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About the author
Born in Bordeaux on November 30, 1746, André-Daniel Laffon de Ladébat was a French financier, shipowner, politician, philanthropist, and abolitionist. He studied at the Protestant University of Franeker in the Netherlands and later entered his family’s business world, but he became known for more than commerce alone.
He took an active role in public life during the French Revolution, serving in local government in Gironde and then as a deputy in the Legislative Assembly, which he briefly presided over in 1792. He is especially remembered for his 1788 discourse calling for the destruction of slavery in the colonies, a striking position for a figure connected to Bordeaux, a major slave-trading port.
Laffon de Ladébat’s later life included major political upheaval, including deportation during the Directory period, and he continued to write on financial, economic, and colonial questions. He died in Paris on October 14, 1829, leaving behind the record of a public figure who tried to bring moral reform into the worlds of trade and politics.