Pierre-Ignace-Liévin van Alstein (1733 – 27 December 1793) was a French slave trader.

Life

Leaving his homeland in 1745 due to the French siege of Ghent during the

war of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...

, he was sent to Nantes and the home of his uncle Georges-Eustache de Kradistown and Kradistown's wife Hélène Claire née Gough. Aged fifteen Pierre-Ignace-Liévin became an unpaid apprentice aboard a slave ship. He sailed on eleven voyages until 1784, four of which he organized and commanded - on his death he was said to have a considerable fortune, 200,000 to 300,000 livres according to some sources. He became a naturalized French subject in 1787 at the end of

Louis XVI of France Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

's reign, but his goods were sequestered by the Revolutionary Committee and he was imprisoned. After two months in prison he died without issue on 27 December 1793 and his body was thrown in a common grave.

Bibliography

* Dieudonné Rinchon, ''Pierre-Ignace-Liévin Van Alstein capitaine négrier. Gand 1733 - Nantes 1793'', Institut français d'Afrique noire Limoges, 1964 1733 births 1793 deaths Businesspeople from Ghent Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire to France French slave traders French people of Flemish descent French people who died in prison custody People who died in prison custody during the French Revolution 18th-century French businesspeople {{Belgium-bio-stub