B i o g r a p h y

Name: Jean David Nau known as Francois L’Olonnais

Nickname: “Fléau des Espagnols” or Flail of Spaniards

Born: Les Slables-d’Olonne, France (Western Coast)

around 1635

Died: Darien Province, Panama, 1668

Pirate Type: Buccaneers

Nationality: French

Active Year: 1660-1668

Rank: Captain

Place of Operation: Caribbean, Central America

E a r l y L i f e

1650s --He used to be a poor man and he worked as an indentured servant

and he was taken to the Caribbean when he was still in young age.

Then he joined the famous buccaneers and lived with them. He also

navigate to Tortuga island where it is the French hideout.

He began his piracy act during the War of Devolution when France and

Spain fought. Since then, he was famous because of his hatred of the

Spanish and known as a bloodthirsty and ruthless pirate.

Firstly, he was hired to attack the Spaniards and he was really efficient in

fighting.

As he was able to fight fiercely, the French Government of Tortuga

(Haiti) rewarded him with a ship and made him as a captain.

L’Olonnais was the one of the first buccaneers who organized land

attacks.

1663 – His ship wrecks in Yucatan Peninsula and most of his crews

died but he survived. Then he hide under the dead body and he

changed his outfit same as the Spanish and he even freed some of

French slaves.

Place of Operation He was active in Caribbean Seas.

He cooperated with famous freebooters Michel le Basque, Pierre le

Piccard, Moïse Vauquielin with 8 ships and 400 troops.

1667-- They sacked Maracaibo and Gibraltar Gulf of Venezuela. It was a

victory for them. They torment people there to get treasures also

slaves from that city.

D e a t h 1668– It was the final raid that

happened in San Jose River, Nicaragua

when he was going to attack the

Spanish. However his ship was wrecked

so he used small raft to attack. In which

it ended by him was captured by the

native Indian tribes in the Gulf Darien.

Finally he dead because he was burned

alive, cooked, and even being eaten by

those Indian people.

T r e a s u r e s He buried treasure that is worth 4,000 gold.

He also captured 260,000 pieces of eight as well as large

amounts of silver plate, silk and jewels

In Maracaibo, he captured a ship with cocoa beans, gemstone,

and more than 260,000 Spanish dollars.

MLA Citation Minster, Christopher. "Biography of Francois L’Olonnais." About

Education. Latin American History, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/Pirates/p/Biography-Of-

Francois-L-Olonnais.htm

Thompson, Ben. "François L'Olonnais." Badass of the Week. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. http://www.badassoftheweek.com/lollonais.html

Ossian, Robbert. "François L'Olonnais." The Pirate King. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. http://www.thepirateking.com/bios/lolonnais_francois.htm

"François L'Olonnais." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 16 July 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/François_l'Olonnais