Théodore Canot (1804–1860) was a Franco-Florentine slave trader and writer whose life was defined by his extensive involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. Born in Florence, Canot left Europe in 1819, sailing from Livorno for the Americas, never to return. Possessing a natural aptitude for languages and commerce, he established himself between 1820 and 1840 as one of the most prominent slave traders operating between Cuba and the West African coasts of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
Canot's career began on merchant vessels, where he frequently encountered the piracy that surged in the Antilles following the official abolition of the slave trade by several nations. He eventually relocated to the Guinea coast, settling near the mouth of the Rio Pongo. There, he transitioned from an employee to an independent trader, managing numerous voyages transporting enslaved people to Cuba. His maritime exploits included evading British naval cruisers, surviving shipwrecks, and dealing with slave rebellions and mutinies.
Around 1840, Canot transitioned from active trafficking to operating a plantation in the same African region, though he still occasionally engaged in the slave trade. In 1854, he authored a detailed account of his eventful life. This memoir serves as a significant historical testimony, offering a detailed perspective on the slave-owning societies of the era, the European traders, and the African tribes who integrated the trade into their ways of life.