5 little-known black female slave traders who changed the course of history

Caty Louette

Caty Louette, one of the most powerful female traders on Goree Island, was born to Frenchman Nicolas Louët, an official of the French East India Company.

Caty Louette is described as one of the most successful and prominent profiles in the slave trade of Gorée.

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What distinguished her from others was the fact that she could read and write, which at the time, was uncommon.

She was described as the richest woman of the island and for some time the biggest slave owner of Gorée. In 1767, she owned 68 slaves in a community where most Signares sold slaves rather than keeping them for their personal use. In 1756, she commissioned the eldest of the still-standing grand European stone houses which came to be so famous for Gorée in the 18th century.