The Theologian Slave Trader

This is a very unusual and fascinating book with intriguing parallels between the subject - the Danish-Ghanaian Fredericus Petri Svane Africanus, who lived between 1710 and 1789. Her own family was involved in the affairs of the Danish slave trading fortress, Christiansborg, where Fredericus also spent some time. The book is in two equal parts, the first giving the background to the story, and the second is Fredericus' own autobiography written in 1748 and addressed to the Duke von Plessen, in the hope of gaining employment. He had a tough life, full of ups and downs, but he maintains a vivid sense of God's providence throughout. The reader gains a lively impression of his daily life and relationships. For instance, he describes in detail the work of his own slaves dragging large stones destined to build his mansion, which never materialised following multiple arrests and imprisonment. Indeed, his belongings were auctioned and the foundations of his building destroyed. A further purpose of the book is to redress the balance within accounts of Danish history with a different perspective on their involvement in slave trading, in the course of which the reader becomes much more aware of the history of cultural prejudice.