French corsair Robert Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captures the British 38-gun Kent.

Robert Surcouf

French privateer, businessman and slave trader (1773–1827)

Robert Surcouf was a French privateer, businessman and slave trader who operated in the Indian Ocean from 1789 to 1808 during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Capturing over 40 prizes, he later amassed a large fortune from a variety of commercial activities, such as…