October 4, 1754 - Francisco Félix de Sousa

Francisco Félix de Souza (5 October 1754 – 8 May 1849) was a Brazilian slave trader who was deeply influential in the regional politics of pre-colonial West Africa (now Benin, Togo and Nigeria). He founded Afro-Brazilian communities in areas that are now part of those countries and went on to become the "chachá" of Ouidah (the slave-trading hub for the region), a title that conferred no official powers but commanded local respect in the Kingdom of Dahomey, where, after being jailed by King Adandozan of Dahomey, he helped Ghezo ascend the throne in a coup d'état.

His early years in Africa are well documented in a long article (in Portuguese) by Alberto Costa e Silva, "The Early Years of Francisco Féliz de Souza on the Slave Coast".

De Souza was a major slave trader and merchant who traded in palm oil, gold and slaves. He migrated from Brazil to what is now the African republic of Benin. He has been called "the greatest slave trader".

Trading slaves from what was then the Dahomey region, de Souza was known for his extravagance and was reputed to have had at least 80 children with women in his harem.

Content sourced from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco Félix de Souza under CC BY-SA 4.0.