Pierre Guillon de Prince, 86, has issued what is believed to be the first formal apology in France for a family’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. His ancestors, shipowners based in Nantes, transported approximately 4,500 enslaved Africans and owned plantations in the Caribbean.
Speaking at a gathering in Nantes on Saturday, Guillon de Prince said other French families must confront their historical ties to slavery and called for the state to go beyond symbolic gestures, including reparations. He stated: 'Faced with the rise of racism in our society, I felt a responsibility not to let this past be erased.'
The apology was made alongside Dieudonné Boutrin, a descendant of enslaved people from Martinique, ahead of the inauguration of an 18-metre replica ship mast. The pair work together at the Coque Nomade Fraternité association, which aims to break the silence around slavery. Boutrin described the apology as 'a courageous act'.
France recognised transatlantic slavery as a crime against humanity in 2001 but has never formally apologised. President Emmanuel Macron has expanded access to colonial archives and proposed a commission on France’s history with Haiti without mentioning reparations. In March, France abstained from a UN resolution declaring slavery a 'gravest crime against humanity' and calling for reparations.
Other institutions have apologised for their roles, including Lloyd’s Register in 2025, Lloyd’s of London in 2020, and the Bank of England, which apologised for the involvement of former governors and directors in the slave trade.
