- Abram Petrovich Gannibal ( 1696 – 1781 ), adopted by Russian czar Peter The Great , governor of Reval (1742–52), general-en-chef (1759–62) for building of sea forts and Canal s in Russia .
- Absalom Jones , (1746 - February 13, 1818), abolitionist and clergyman.
- Aesop , Greek poet, c. 6th Century BC , author or transcriber of Aesop's Fables .
- Amanda America Dickson , daughter of her owner; the fight over her inheritance on his death went all the way to the Supreme Court Of Georgia .
- Ammar Bin Yasir , one of the most famous '' Sahaba '' (companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad ), freed by Abu Bakr .
- Antarah Ibn Shaddad , Pre-Islamic Arab born to a slave mother, freed by his father on the eve of battle, also a poet.
- Ayuba Suleiman Diallo , also known as Job ben Solomon (1701–1773).
- Baibars , a Kipchack Turk who became a Mamluk Sultan of Egypt and Syria .
- Benedict The Moor (1526 – April 4, 1589), Italian saint.
- Bilal Ibn Ribah , 6th century, freed and converted to Islam ; chosen by Muhammad as his '' Muezzin ''.
- Booker T. Washington ( 1856 – 1915 ) was an American educator, author and leader of the African American community.
- Pope Callixtus I (died 222 ) was Pope from about 217 to about 222, during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Heliogabalus and Alexander Severus . He was Martyr ed for his Christian faith and is a canonized saint of the Roman Catholic Church .
- Cesar Picton ca.1765 - 1831, enslaved in Senegal , servant in England , later a wealthy coal-merchant.
- Dave Drake , also known as Dave the Potter, (c. 1800 – 1864 )
- Denmark Vesey (c. 1767 – 1822 ) was an African American slave, and later a freeman, who planned what would have been one of the largest Slave Rebellions in the United States had word of the plans not been leaked.
- Dred Scott (c. 1799 – 1858 ), attempted to sue for his freedom in Scott V. Sandford .
- Enrique Of Malacca , also known as Henry The Black , slave and interpreter of Ferdinand Magellan , the first man to circumnavigate the globe.
- Epictetus ( 55 –c. 135 ), Ancient Greek Stoic Philosopher
- Estevanico , also known as Esteban the Moor, one of only four survivors of the ill-fated Narváez Expedition , later a guide in search of the fabled Seven Cities Of Gold (ca. 1503 - 1539 )
- Felicitas , Christian martyr and saint (died March 7 , 203 ).
- Francis Bok , born 1979, Dinka slave from Sudan now in United States
- François Mackandal , Haitian Maroon leader.
- Frederick Douglass (c. 1818 – 1895 ), abolitionist writer and speaker.
- George Africanus ( 1763 - 1834 ) was a negro slave from Sierra Leone who became a successful entrepreneur in Nottingham .
- Guðríður Símonardóttir ( 1598 - 1682 ), Icelandic woman taken captive by North African slavers ( Barbary Pirates ).
- Hagar , Biblical figure, belonging to Sarah .
- Harriet Tubman , nicknamed "Moses" because of her efforts in helping other slaves escape through the Underground Railway .
- James Somersett , his escape, supported by abolitionists, led to the milestone Somersett's Case , which effectively ended slavery in Britain, though not in its colonies.
- Jean-Jacques Dessalines (1758–1806), leader of the Haitian Revolution and first leader of independent Haiti .
- Jean Saint Malo , leader of runaway slaves in colonial Louisiana and founder of the secret community That Bears His Name .
- Jeffrey Hudson , English courtier, spent 25 years as a slave in North Africa .
- John Brown (fugitive Slave) (c. 1810 – 1876 ), escaped and wrote of conditions in Deep South of United States
- John Casor , the first slave in what would later be the United States ( Virginia , 1654).
- Jordan Lockett , a runaway slave whose plight led to Wisconsin becoming the only state to declare the Fugitive Slave Law Of 1850 unconstitutional.
- Joseph , Biblical figure (about 1600 BC).
- Joseph Antonio Emidy , violinist and composer born in Africa , died in Cornwall .
- Cinque , leader of the slaves in the Amistad V. United States case in 1839
- Josephine Bakhita , (1869 — February 8 1947), Sudanese , a Roman Catholic nun and saint.
- Juan Francisco Manzano (c. 1797 – 1854 ) Cuban poet.
- Joseph Knight , unsuccessfully sought to get his freedom through the courts in 18th Century Scotland .
- Lydia, a slave shot and wounded by her owner when she struggled to escape a whipping, an action ruled legal by the Supreme Court Of North Carolina in 1830 (see North Carolina V. Mann ) .
- Malinche , translator during the Spanish Conquest Of Mexico .
- Mammy Lou , actress who appeared in the Silent Film , The Glorious Adventure .
- Marcus Tullius Tiro , Roman author (c. 103 – 4 BC ).
- Margaret Garner ( 1835 – 1858 ) was a slave in pre-Civil War America notorious or celebrated for killing her own daughter rather than see the child returned to slavery.
- Mary Prince (1788-?1833); the account of her life galvanized the Anti-slavery Movement in England.
- Mende Nazer , a Nuba woman captured in Darfur and transported from Sudan to London , where she eventually won refugee status and wrote the memoir ''Slave'' (2004).
- Moses , ancient Israelite who led his people out of slavery in Egypt
- Nanny Of The Maroons , also known as Granny Nanny and Queen Nanny, Jamaican Maroons leader.
- Nat Turner ( 1800 – 1831 ), escaped and led revolt in Southampton County , Virginia .
- Nero Hawley ( 1742 - 1817 ), free slave, served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War , buried Trumbull, Connecticut .
- Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745 – 1797 ), also known as Gustavus Vassa, prominent African/British author and figure in the abolitionist cause.
- Onesimus , a slave of Philemon Of Colossae who ran away and, having met St. Paul , was converted by him. Paul set him back to the Christian Philemon with a letter, which is the '' Epistle To Philemon ''. Ignatius Of Antioch mentions an Onesimus as Bishop Of Ephesus in the early Second Century , but it is not certain that these are the same men.
- Owen Fitzpen , English merchant taken captive by Turkish Pirates in 1620, subsequently escaped.
- Patrick , abducted from Britain , enslaved in Ireland , escaped to Britain, returned to Ireland as a missionary.
- Phillis Wheatley , Colonial American poet
- Prosper, a slave cruelly murdered by his owner Arthur William Hodge , for which Hodge was tried and executed, the first such case ever recorded.
- Qutb-ud-din Aybak or Qutbuddin Aibak , Turkish ex-slave, became a soldier, the first of the Sultans Of Delhi , founder of India 's " Slave Dynasty ".
- Romaica , slave girl who became the favorite wife of Muhammad Al-Mu'tamid , Muslim king of Seville , Spain .
- Roustam Raza , Napoleon Bonaparte 's Armenian bodyguard.
- Roxelana , (circa 1500 - April 18, 1558), a concubine and later wife to the sultan Suleiman The Magnificent , and mother of Selim II .
- Salman Al Farisi , of Persia n descent, he was owned by a Jew of the Beni Quraiza in Arabia , became one of Muhammad 's companions and was the first to translate the Quran .
- Salvius , also known as Tryphon, leader of the 104 B.C. slave rebellion in Sicily known as the Second Servile War .
- Scipio Africanus (c. 1702 - 1720 )
- Scipio Moorhead , enslaved artist.
- Sojourner Truth (c. 1797 – 1883 )
- Solomon Bayley , wrote a book in 1825 about his life as a slave.
- Spartacus , gladiator and rebel leader, led the Servile Revolt , died 71 BC
- Sumayyah Binte Khabbab , an Abbyssinia n slave, the mother of Ammar Bin Yasir , was killed by her master when she refused to renounce Islam , thus becoming its first martyr.
- Terence (full name Publius Terentius Afer), Roman playwright, comic poet who wrote before and possibly after his freedom, died 159 BC .
- Tiro , slave and secretary of the Roman politian Cicero , later freed; invented a long-lasting system of shorthand and wrote books that are now lost.
- Toussaint L'Ouverture , freed slave who led the slave revolt that led to the independence of Haiti .
- Ukawsaw Gronniosaw , freed slave turned writer.
- Vincent De Paul . ( 1576 – 1660 ) Taken captive by Turkish Pirates , sold into slavery, freed in 1607.
- William Ellison (1790-1861), Mixed Race , gained his freedom, became a slaveholder himself, producing cotton.
- William and Ellen Craft , slaves who wrote a tale of their flight from slavery (1800s).
- Yarrow Mamout , freed after serving many years in America
- Zayd Ibn Haritha , given to Muhammad 's wife Khadijah , freed, adopted, became known as Zayd ibn Muhammad.
- Zheng Pang Wang , Chinese explorer.
- Ziryab , also known as Abul-Hasan Alí Ibn Nafí, musician, introduced Asparagus to Europe (c. 789 - 857 ).
- Zumbi , escaped and joined the Quilombo Dos Palmares , the largest ever settlement of escaped slaves in Colonial Brazil , becoming its last and most famous leader.
''See also'': Janissary , Mameluk
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