Celebrating Olaudah Equiano
You may have noticed that all of the rooms in our community centre are named after noteable literary and historical figures of Fitzrovia.
This Black History Month, we celebrate the life of Olaudah Equiano, namesake of our Equiano room and one of the most important figures of world history.
Olaudah Equiano (1745 - 1797) was born in a village in present-day Nigeria and was sold into slavery as a child, first into England and then America where he was freed in his 20s to then move back to England.
He settled into his home on Riding House Street and wrote his famous memoir, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African. This autobiography was the first published narrative by a slave and pioneered the abolitionist movement.
A memorial plaque was placed by City of Westminster on Riding House Street to honour Olaudah Equiano’s life. He is buried in Whitefield’s Tabernacle on Tottenham Court Road.
Read more about his life at The Equiano Society.
Image courtesy of Fitzrovia News.