Brown Professor Emeritus of French Studies, Henry Majewski - IH member, tutor and former board member - presented on his recent book, a translation of a Story of a Voyage to Saint-Domingue and to Virginia in the United States of America in 1793“.

The author of the memoir is Captain Guillaume Le Conte of Cherbourg a French naval captain who recounts his experiences at the beginning of the Haitian revolution and the terror in France. The translation was recently published by the Caribbean Philosophical Society in the CLR James Journal. The author pays special attention to the problem of slavery. As an enlightened eighteenth century Frenchman, he is appalled by the cruel treatment of the natives and is particularly opposed to the institution of slavery. You can read a quick summary of the translation here.