{"id":538653,"date":"2026-04-19T01:17:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T01:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/538653\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T01:17:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T01:17:08","slug":"french-man-86-issues-historic-apology-for-familys-role-in-transatlantic-slavery-slavery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/538653\/","title":{"rendered":"French man, 86, issues historic apology for family\u2019s role in transatlantic slavery | Slavery"},"content":{"rendered":"

An 86-year-old man has issued what is believed to be the first formal apology by someone in France<\/a> for their family\u2019s role in transatlantic slavery.<\/p>\n

Pierre Guillon de Prince\u2019s ancestors were shipowners based in Nantes, the country\u2019s largest port for transatlantic slavery. They transported about 4,500 enslaved Africans and owned plantations in the Caribbean.<\/p>\n

Guillon de Prince said on Saturday that other French families must confront their historical allegiances to slavery and the state should go beyond symbolic gestures to address the past, including through reparations.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cFaced with the rise of racism in our society, I felt a responsibility not to let this past be erased.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guillon de Prince made the apology at a gathering in Nantes before the inauguration of an 18-metre replica ship mast, alongside Dieudonn\u00e9 Boutrin, a descendant of enslaved people from the Caribbean island of Martinique.<\/p>\n

The two work together at the Coque Nomade Fraternit\u00e9, an association dedicated to \u201cbreaking the silence\u201d around slavery, and said the mast would serve as a \u201cbeacon of humanity\u201d.<\/p>\n

Boutrin, 61, said: \u201cMany families of descendants of slave traders don\u2019t dare speak out for fear of reopening old wounds and anger. Pierre\u2019s apology is a courageous act.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were abducted and forcibly transported, mostly on European ships. France trafficked an estimated 1.3 million people.<\/p>\n

France recognised transatlantic slavery as a crime against humanity in 2001 but, like most European countries, has never formally apologised for its role.<\/p>\n

During his terms in office, President Emmanuel Macron has expanded access to archives on France\u2019s colonial past. Last year he said he would establish a commission to examine France\u2019s history with Haiti without mentioning reparations.<\/p>\n

France abstained at the UN in March from a resolution proposed by Ghana<\/a> declaring slavery the \u201cgravest crime against humanity\u201d and calling for reparations.<\/p>\n

Lloyd\u2019s Register, the maritime and industrial group owned by one of Britain\u2019s largest charities, apologised in 2025 for its role in the trafficking of enslaved African people.<\/p>\n

The company said: \u201cWe are deeply sorry for this part of our history. Acknowledging this legacy is important for our organisation, the descendants of those affected and those who still live with the consequences of this trafficking, and society as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lloyd\u2019s Register is unaffiliated to the insurer Lloyd\u2019s of London, which apologised for its role in enslavement in 2020.<\/p>\n

The same year, the Bank of England apologised for the involvement<\/a> of some of its former governors and directors in the slave trade and pledged to remove all statues and paintings of them from public display in its headquarters in London.<\/p>\n

At least 25 governors and directors from the 18th and 19th centuries were or had been owners of enslaved people, or were linked to slave trading, according to a database compiled by University College London\u2019s Legacies of British Slave Ownership project.<\/p>\n

A Bank of England spokesperson told the Guardian at the time: \u201cThere can be no doubt that the 18th- and 19th-century slave trade was an unacceptable part of English history.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an institution, the Bank of England was never itself directly involved in the slave trade, but is aware of some inexcusable connections involving former governors and directors and apologises for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The slave trade was abolished in 1807 across the British Empire, but the ownership of enslaved people was not outlawed until 1833.<\/p>\n

The British government paid \u00a320m in compensation to the former owners of enslaved people, a vast sum of borrowed money at the time that was only repaid in 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An 86-year-old man has issued what is believed to be the first formal apology by someone in France…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-538653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}