Olaudah Equiano autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African published in 1789. Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797) was a prominent African writer and an advocate for the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. Equiano was born in the Igbo village of Essaka and was kidnapped and enslaved at around 11 years old. He was transported to the Caribbean and then Virginia in North America. He was resold twice more before he was able to buy his freedom in 1766, settling in London where he joined the British abolitionist movement. Equianos book is one of the earliest first hand accounts of the horrors of enslavement. It was an important tool in the abolition campaign and remains relevant today as a fascinating historical document.